Today we had our first site visit of the quarter and it was amazing. We visited Casa de Manana and sat at separate tables with 2-3 of the residents at each table and spoke to them about what we thought what an age friendly community looked like. I mainly spoke to Janet and Dot, who were both great women but their personalities and perspectives towards young people differed greatly. Janet loved the idea of intergenerational mingling, and when I told her that I was going to Spain over the summer, she told me about the kind of community they have there. They have a plaza that’s open to the public where people of all ages, young and old, come together to socialize, play games, and just have fun throughout the entire day, even until night time. She thought it was a great space and wanted something like that in our community here. Dot, on the other hand, though she did like young people, felt that being in a space like that would be awkward for her. She said that us young people like being with people our age, while she liked being with people her age as well. I understood where she was coming from and I was able to see why these social barriers of age prevent us from interacting with people of different ages as much. However, that’s why I feel like we need to incorporate structures that force/encourage people to interact with each other, so that in the future the interactions can occur more naturally.
This past Wednesday, I shared my presented my findings from the passages I chose through the in class discussion. The two passages I chose, Warning and The Big Boys, both related to the theme of social and psychological aspects of aging, but from different perspectives. Warning was from the point of view of a woman, who wanted to be able to wear the color purple and not be judged for it once she became an old woman. She wanted to challenge the stereotype of the “crazy old woman” and instead do crazy things just because she felt like it, not because her sanity was deteriorating. This passage made me think about how we see elders in two very different extremes, either very respected or pitied with disdain. The second passage challenged humans in the workplace. The author argued that everyone, no matter what age, is still human and we all have our flaws. He also pointed out that though people think that others should retire once they hit the age of 65, he felt that when he turned that age he lost purpose in his life. Doing nothing made him feel out of the loop and no longer connected to who he was, which is why he started to work again. Both of these passages made me see how society influences the way people act and think about themselves. Though it may be unconscious, it plays a big role in how people carry themselves and it affects their future, for better or for worse.
At the end of class, Professor Lewis showed us a film that discussed how the age distribution of our population is changing from a pyramid shape to a barrel shape. Our government and economy was made for a pyramid shaped population, but now that this is changing, we all need to work together to make the country a better place for kids and the elderly, so that it is better for everyone overall. The film did not blame anyone for the problems we have, but rather offered solutions that helped all ages out. It was interesting to see how the problem seemed easily fixable, so long as people are cooperative, which is the main problem. Over the weekend, my HAP group and I visited Seasons at La Jolla in order to discuss with Barrett how we would implement the choir for his residents. We came in thinking we would have to negotiate a deal with him, but it seemed like Barrett expected us with the mindset that we were already going to form the choir at Seasons. He was extremely kind and toured us around the center, showing us the different lives that the residents have lived. Many of them are extremely accomplished, intelligent, and talented. Each resident had an amazing story and it was so touching to see that Barrett knew them all, so if they ever forgot he would remind them of their amazing accomplishments and of their loving families. I’m really glad that the biggest hurdle of our HAP is now dealt with, and now all I need to do is come up with a repertoire of songs and find a way to teach it to the seniors in a fun, but mellow way. I’m excited to talk to them and hear their stories from them personally and I can’t wait to be able to sing together with them.
During class this week, we went over some logistics and then Rhiannon, Jackie, and Elizabeth shared their one page discussions. The points that they brought up were very eye opening and analytical, so I’m a bit apprehensive for when I share what I found for my discussion. Nonetheless, I’m confident I will be able to find the same passion in the readings like the other girls, and I’m looking forward to sharing that newfound knowledge with the rest of the class. On our first day back, the professors gave us a breakdown of the plans for the quarter, and then spoke to each group about their HAP’s. For my HAP, I teamed up with John, Jessica, and Stephanie to try and form a choir at a dementia care center. Because we know that music helps with memory and makes people feel good, we hope that our HAP will be able to make a difference in the lives of the elderly with dementia by bringing music into their lives. Currently, we are in contact with Seasons at La Jolla and we are going to meet head of the center, Barrett, this upcoming Saturday. I was a bit scared to form our choir at Seasons because Barrett has really bad reviews on Yelp, but he seemed nice on the phone so hopefully it works out. The professors said that we would make a bigger impact if we tried to hold classes weekly, but it is difficult for us because as college students things always come up and we are always busy. Though I don’t have much free time this quarter, I want to try my best in giving to the dementia center and sharing my love of music with the elderly at Seasons. A few challenges that I foresee are organization, music genres, and interest. I feel that it will be hard to get the choir started and get people involved, but once we settle in I’m sure it will be fine. The issue with music genres is that the seniors at the center might have a wide age range, making it hard to decide what songs would be best for them to sing. Lastly, I hope that our choir is fun and exciting enough for the seniors to want to continue doing it and to build social relationships with us.
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Micah BanawisArchives
June 2018
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