I firmly believe the Love, Connect, Care event at the West Center will go down as one of my favorite experiences ever. I found exactly what had been missing from all of the classes I’ve taken so far at UCSD: a sense of action and real purpose. In planning for the event, I was uncertain at how it would be received and if elders in the community would want to participate because of everything that COVID has affected. As a result, I think somewhere down the line I became uncertain at what small interventions could actually do. In just one day, my hope was restored and I reevaluated my own attitude toward social change. During the event, I had the pleasure of chatting with one of the attendees and after joking around about the photobooth a little, he expressed his gratitude for the event and began to tear up. I was so surprised and thankful - thankful to him for sharing that moment with me and thankful to be part of the Life Course Scholars program. Being able to document the event as well with my camera was really special because I was able to capture some incredible things: some of the elders absolutely dominating at Jeopardy and the ring toss games, the excitement with the raffle prizes, and many people returning to the photobooth again and again. I really truly learned so much from that day and from the vibrant, funny, and lovely people that came by.
I consider myself so lucky to have gotten to visit the West center this past week. I was a little nervous because it was my first step back into in-person classes and I’ve gotten too used to Zoom University. Not only was it the first time our cohort got to meet in person, it was such a refreshing change of pace and reminded me exactly why I was so excited for this program in the first place. In almost all of my UCSD classes, I’ve been able to learn about different solutions and programs that aim to alleviate numerous health concerns. However, there was always a disconnect for me because I wasn’t sure how I fit into these initiatives. Getting to see the West Center and learn about the activities and services they provide finally gave me the chance to see for myself how change can be made. I was particularly interested in their senior volunteer program. It just makes sense to have volunteers and representatives that are also elders and they also know their desires and needs better than anyone. For some reason, the pervasive myths about aging tend to tell us that seniors need to be taken care of and not the other way around. This reminded me again of the intergenerational programs we discussed last week and how the whole goal is to built two-way connections between people of different generations. Just like anyone else, our elders have a lot to give others and also have the ability to take care of each other. Along with our class discussions about intergenerational programs, this senior volunteer program also reminded me of this week’s chapter from John Leland’s book about Helen and Howie. Helen was able to find purpose in her ability to help Howie and advocate for him. Her story shows us the complexity of aging: you can simultaneously need assistance with some tasks as you age but still provide assistance and support for others. In our constant desire to fit things into boxes, we sometimes lose sight of life’s complexity but it doesn’t have to be one or the other. I’m grateful for this program and to everyone we met at the West Center for showing me this.
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Mariyah ShadMariyah Shad is a Global Health major with a minor in Business and Anthropology. She is from Carlsbad, Archives
March 2022
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