For this week’s meeting, our assignment was to complete a “debunking ageist stereotypes” presentation with a topic of our choice, and I decided to address the misconception of prevailing loneliness among older adults. The reason I chose this topic was due to the stories shared in the book we are reading: Happiness is a Choice You Make by John Leland. There, anecdotes are given about how older adults foster social interactions, including instances of finding love after their partners had passed away and participating in games with fellow apartment residents. This is in stark contrast with the typically depicted lack of friends or vibrant communities in old age that is shown and propagated by popular media. However, the book also provides examples of older adults who do not have as active of social interactions and portrays their lives as fulfilling regardless. Both of these cases were incorporated into my presentation, as the myths were how older adults were usually lonely and how if older adults were not, they had aged “successfully.” The idea of “successful” aging is one of greater importance, as this stereotype could be applied in many fields, including health and wealth, and it could be easily propagated. It may seem like a good idea to compliment one’s life in old age but doing so may inadvertently put down another’s life in old age. The way one ages is primarily determined by their surroundings and upbringing, and it should not be treated as a measure of success. I created an infographic for this presentation, as that was the format I was most familiar with. Overall, this assignment was interesting, and it helped me to express ideas about aging that I had held for a long time, especially with prior courses.
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Martin NguyenMartin is a Biochemistry/Cell Biology major from Garden Grove, CA. A fun fact about Martin is that he played tennis in high school. Archives
April 2021
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