We returned to the Gary and Mary West Center on Wednesday for our third round of LEG conversations. Upon arriving, there were not many seniors that showed up to speak with us. So, we started inviting people in as they walked into the West Center. I think many of us, me included, were a bit shy at first because many of the seniors sitting in the lobby and waiting room looked like they did not want to be bothered, and were just patiently waiting to get a meal in the cafeteria. This made it intimidating initially. Fortunately, we teamed up and we were able to draw in quite a few folks to speak with us over some breakfast snacks. I had the opportunity to speak with an older African man named Kenneth. We told him we were UCSD students and coincidentally he is a UCSD alumnus. Originally from Nigeria, Kenneth came to the US on a scholarship for university, eanred a pHD in Psychology at UCSD, and returned to Nigeria to teach as a Psychology professor. Unlike my other LEG experiences, speaking with Kenneth felt more like a mutual conversation rather than storytelling. It wasn't simply Kenneth telling us about his life and us asking questions, rather he asked us questions too. He had a lot of questions, and because of this we talked about a large range of topics; from favorite foods (he loves chicken wings), to family and religious beliefs. And like the other LEG seniors, there was some pressure about post-graduation plans from Kenneth directed to those of us graduating this year. I really enjoyed speaking with Kenneth because our conversation didn't have the dynamic of "elder drops knowledge on youngins". I enjoyed it because Kenneth spoke to us like equals, and was just looking for a nice casual chat with people to begin his morning.
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Sabrina LawWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
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