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.
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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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