The retreat took place at the Martin Johnson House in a cute little cabin on the edge of a cliff overlooking the beach. We engaged in a variety of activities to get to know eachother better; from a nature walk, to a life course board game. We started the day off some quick icebreakers - who knew so many of us were multilingual - then when into a lecture given by the professors. It was very striking to me to learn that so few elders are institutionalized, that the majority are living very independent lives on their own. I think there is a narrative of the helpless elder that is portrayed in television and media and this really feeds into this stereotype. In addition to that, as the professor mentioned, as college students we seldom have contact with older persons. At the end of the day we were asked as answer the prompt " When I am 80...." , an idea I had never put too much thought into. After today, I hope that I will be fortunate enough to live in an environment that takes into account my limitations and provides me with opportunities to be involved.
Here is an excerpt from my response:
"When I am 80 I'll have a small home with a beautiful backyard, with lots of flowers and trees. I will share my home with my husband and we will spend our days rewatching old marvel movies and spending time outside. My life will be driven by the love I have for my family and the passion I have for helping others. I'll spend my holidays surrounded by my children and grandchildren, we'll eat the food that I learned to make from my mother and grandmothers and hope to pass on to my children and grandchildren."
There's a lot I hope to learn from this program about the structural barriers that older populations face but I really hope that I will be exposed to the diversity of older people here in San Diego.
Here is an excerpt from my response:
"When I am 80 I'll have a small home with a beautiful backyard, with lots of flowers and trees. I will share my home with my husband and we will spend our days rewatching old marvel movies and spending time outside. My life will be driven by the love I have for my family and the passion I have for helping others. I'll spend my holidays surrounded by my children and grandchildren, we'll eat the food that I learned to make from my mother and grandmothers and hope to pass on to my children and grandchildren."
There's a lot I hope to learn from this program about the structural barriers that older populations face but I really hope that I will be exposed to the diversity of older people here in San Diego.