For this week's class, there was a book project presentation on Happiness is a Choice You Make: Meet the Elders for the first part of the book. The presentation was put together by me, Andrew, Deanna, Sabrina, Victoria, Joey, Neena, Janan, Maricela, Grace and Nicolette. The book was about 6 elders, 3 men and 3 women between the ages of 87-92 who were interviewed for the content of the book. Main findings included the following: Old age is a concept largely defined by the people who’ve never lived it We fear what we don’t know; aging requires us to accept not knowing. Society concentrates on the problems of being elderly, not the “richness” of being old Older individuals are happier despite a decline in physical and mental capabilities Happiness is approached individually and should be pursued by what you value most and where you want to see yourself By letting go of future worries, we can learn to better value the present Valuing individuals on the basis of constant motion and “productive contributions” is problematic and devalues the universal aging process In summary the key to happiness is all about the choices you make, what you choose to prioritize for the time you have left. After the presentation, we all split into our HAPS to work on logistics of our events and projects. For my group we finished making a materials list, designing the t shirt, mapping out a potential route, and finalizing date, location and time. I'm excited to see how the event turnout will be.
For today's class we went back to Casa de Manana, and we split off into groups to hear some of the residents' stories. I listened to a woman named Diana talk about her life and her experiences. She has 3 brothers and is the third child. She was born on her aunt's birthday, so her parents named her after her aount. She has 9 children, 5 girls and 4 boys. She showed us a photo of all of her children. All of her children have finished college. She met her husband in college when they hit it off at a dance. When asked what her life was like at twenty years old, she said that she had graduated from college with a sociology degree and was already engaged. She lived in Chicago for a while before moving to California. When her husband got laid off, she became a teacher. She went to California State University Fullerton and got a degree in special ed education to teach special education for a career. She really enjoys traveling. She showed us a book about Pompeii, as well as photos of her travels. She showed us photos from Egypt, photos from a hot air balloon festival in New Mexico. She also had a photo of her travel in Antartica and shared that she saw a ship sink while she was there. She went skydiving for her birthday in Oceanside, and she said it was a lot of fun. She mentioned that she has done 54 trips in the last year, which is so many!! That was pretty cool.
For today's class we went back to Bayside, but this time we met at Thrive across the street. After the Bayside seniors finished their Zumba, we were able to have the opportunity to talk to them and listen to their experiences and stories. Victoria and I talked to Gloria, a wonderful woman who is from Guadalajara, Mexico. She shared her story of how she came to the United States, as well as shared about her family. She has three sons, who all chose different paths. One son is in the Coast Guard, another one is in business and the third one studied philosophy in college. She also enjoys knitting and crocheting, and even showed us a phone holder she had made. She mentioned that she enjoys going to Sunrise Buffet with her friend because there are so many options to choose from, and it's extremely cheap. Her favorite color is also red. We also tried conversing with her in Spanish, but my Spanish is very basic and still needs a lot of work. She also shared about her husband. Victoria and I also shared our current journeys to our future careers and a little about ourselves. We exchanged contact information with her as well as took photos with her. I really enjoyed getting to know her; she is such a sweet and kind person. Hopefully, we can get the chance to see her again sometime in the future! Per her recommendation, I plan on going to Sunrise Buffet soon and eating a meal there sometime.
Today was the first day back in class for Spring Quarter. We all shared what we did over spring break. I went to Honduras over spring break with Maria and Public Health Brigades to help build latrines for families. It was my second time going, and it was an incredible experience to see the same people from two years ago. I really recommend the experience to anyone. I learned so much from going on my first brigade, and going back for this spring break. We then went over the syllabus and the homework assignments for this quarter. The focus will be on HAP projects. We are also going to be having a couple of site visits this quarter. I am looking forward to going to the LGBT Community Center in Hillcrest and going back to Bayside and Casa de Manana. My group's HAP project is going to be a Walk-a-Thon, and I look forward to working on it with all of my group members. We then received an assignment called "Debunking Ageist Stereotypes and/or Bridging Gaps of Understanding about the Aging Population." We then split off into our HAP groups to work on the project more. I helped with researching prices of snacks, food and designed a prototype for the t-shirt logo as well. We are thinking of making the walk-a-thon more informal than formal, in order to save money and still be able to put on a good event. I am really looking forward to this quarter and learning even more about healthy aging.
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SALLIE LUWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
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