These last two weeks have been filled with a lot of diversity with the LCS. This past week we went to La Jolla at Casa de Mana. The building was historical and right on the oceans edge. We got to see baby seals and walk around the campus and learn about the history and see old photos of La Jolla before it got very popularized. After our tour while we met residents and got to speak with them, I felt appreciative to be in the presence of so many educated women and educated adults. Listening to them talk to us and tell us about their experiences was really inspiring. When we broke off into smaller groups, talking from everything from living in different states, to medical care, to life after loss of a loved one. This week we also set up our capstone and got it put into motion. I am excited to see the turnout. It will be taking place at Casa, and it’s going to be a field day type of activity setup! Because plenty of research has been done showing exercise is important for older adults, I wanted to focus on something exercise focused. I also thought the socialization aspect would be fun and that would be motivating for them to participate in some sort of motivational setting. We plan on doing a few physical activities like a water balloon toss and a horse shoe toss, along with some intellectual activities like timed puzzles and word games.
These last two weeks have brought two different perspectives of being in the LCS program. One thing I appreciate about this program is the diversity of what we are participating in and truthfully, the experiences we get to experience in this program. When we hosted the Valentine’s Day, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. I set up my booth and an older woman came and sat down with me almost immediately. She asked me about myself, and we exchanged answers, and then went silent for a little just enjoying the peacefulness from painting but still being in company. After a little while, she told me about how she was pregnant with twins in the Philippines and how she didn’t know until she was delivering. We then talked about motherhood and our experiences with it, and then I told her I was taught how to cook a traditional Filipino dish, and she asked to see a picture. I showed her my picture of the soup, and her eyes lit up. She asked me how I learned to cook it and told her my good friend’s mom served me some and I asked her if she would show me how to cook it and then the woman gave me another recipe to try. I thought it was a special bonding moment over food and culture and I was thankful to experience that moment with her. During our walk in Barrio Logan, I appreciated the beautiful art along the route we walked. I had never been in that area of San Diego except passing through, and a few things stood out to me. I grew up in a small, rural town in Massachusetts and I am still not accustomed to living in a city. Seeing gentrification firsthand and how it was in the area we were in felt strange. But walking through, I could feel the immense pride the community has for their area and I noticed that none of the artwork in Chicano park was tagged, which really speaks volumes for the community.
These last two weeks as a Life Course Scholar have been rewarding. Meeting everyone face to face and being able to give back to our community is an experience I do not take lightly. I wasn’t sure what we were doing when we arrived at the senior center, and when I figured out what our involvement was going to be, I was excited. I am hoping to pursue some sort of career with geriatrics, hopefully as a Physician Assistant. I think it was an informative beginning of the session on Wednesday and furthered the importance that older adults have adversities that we often do not think of. On a personal note— one of my close relatives is homeless (by choice) and being able to give back to my community through service brought me closer to him and gave me not only more perspective of what challenges he faces, but also was something personally difficult to do. Related to course readings, these types of community projects are related to ageism interventions. By exposing college aged students to their community where there are different forms of older people gives us direct insight into what types of policies are being held and how age looks across the board. It is very eye opening to compare the way my grandparents aged, to the way my parents are aging in their late 50’s, and how it looks different across generations and economical status’. In seeing different community aspects and retirement homes, it has opened my eyes even further to policies in place that can potentially deepen the bride between people and put those more susceptible to oppressive laws. I look forward to the coming weeks where we get to work more closely in our community again.
The course readings so far have put my perspective intensely into my grandparents and older adults in my life. The first 5 chapters of Happiness is a Choice You Make has made me think of my grandmother in almost every chapter. Though she has passed on, I think back so much to stages of her life when she was alive. I grew up with my grandparents, so I think I have a different perspective and relationship to them than most American’s. I remember being one of few kids in elementary school who live with their grandparents. In chapter five when the author and participants in the book talk about love after loss, it deepened my understanding for love after loss. I’ve also come to understand more ageism and its different agents. Things like microaggressions to the community. As I talked about above, I’ve always been considerably aware of ageism due to seeing first-hand the frustrations it can bring the older population. Last quarter in another HDS class, I worked with a mentor who was in the Life Enrichment field at a retirement home, and she also discussed to me how frustrating it can be for her as a professional to see her residents be infantilized so significantly. In some of the readings that was talked about, and I also thought of my mentor. Some of the residents were highly respected surgeons, college professors from top universities, amongst many other respected professions and they would share how frustrating it would be to be talked to like they were children. I think through the readings and just discussing in class about the older population it has further emphasized what amazing and resilient people are throughout their entire life course, and that it’s important not to diminish these things after they hit retirement.
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AuthorMikayla Pratt is a Human Development Science major with a specialization in Healthy Aging. She is from Archives
March 2022
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