This past week has been so full of adventures, from meeting the seniors at the Gary and Mary Wellness Center to exploring and assessing Barrio Logan for age-friendliness aspects. First, reflecting on the event we put on this past Saturday: unexpectedly long, yet short, late morning connections. Below are mainly three little memories I want to expand on and share with you all! (1) I was mostly taking care of the clothing/jewelry booth, which was a lot busier and emptied out than I expected. I love that our classmates brought in so many wonderful clothing and jewelry pieces that the seniors got to keep; it was heartwarming to see the many smiles on their faces! I remember one man in particular was interested in a wooden-like bracelet: he came around, expressed interest, left, and then came around again about half an hour later, expressed surprise that no one had claimed the prized object, laughed a little, then finally took the chance to try it on! It was a cute little interaction and I appreciated how he gave others a chance to snag it before he came back to pick it up (not even for himself, but as a gift for someone else)! As for the clothing, I noticed that many of the seniors were looking for larger-sized clothing. (2) One lady was looking for a large-sized jacket, but when we encouraged her to try the medium jacket, she was surprised that it fit her well. Other than that, our first group of clothing seekers was a group of Mandarin-speaking citizens, and I felt so sad that I was unable to help with the communication. I tried with my broken Mandarin by saying it was free or mentioning the kind of clothing they picked up (“kù zi” for pants). I was reminded of my late grandpa, and I realized that if he were at the community center with us, he also would not have been able to communicate with us students because he spoke a variety of Asian languages, but not English. However, I did actually meet an older Chinese woman who spoke my home dialect, Hokkien. I thought I was just hearing it wrong when she passed by the clothing booth, but I mustered up the courage to talk to her during the raffle, both to fulfill my curiosity and to surprise her with my (almost non-existent) Hokkien skills! Although I couldn’t entirely understand what she was saying, she talked about the Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwan relations, and about how her daughter won a blanket from the raffle. This got me thinking… if I had a superpower, I would definitely want the ability to be fluent in any or all languages. But in all honesty, there isn’t really a shortcut like that so I’d like to start learning Mandarin again, just to be a little more communicative in different scenarios. (3) Watching the other groups do their thing was also amazing! The Jeopardy game across from us seemed so engaging and informative, and it was nice to see the seniors laugh and learn new things. The photobooth was successful!!! I loved the smiles on everyone’s faces, seniors and students alike. The king and queen crown props were a lovely addition; that one lady who helped the other ladies and gentlemen wear their crowns and feather boas was adorable! The plants and physical activity groups also got lots of reception, so it was fun to go around and peek at what they were doing. The painting event was also super cute– one of the ladies there drew a lovely, colorful heart and said that was actually her first time ever painting like this on a canvas. It made me wonder and think about life; I only recently experienced many first-times as I came to college and got to explore activities of interest, but I still feel so left behind sometimes when I realize there’s so much out there that I haven’t experienced that many of my peers have. Even so, I definitely took something as simple as painting on a mini canvas for granted, because it hadn’t occurred to me that it was her first time (since it was a remarkable heart haha). Overall, it truly was a love, care, and connect event. I’m glad it brought in the highest number of seniors since pre-pandemic and I’m excited to hear more about how much more involvement that the center can be expecting soon!
Having the opportunity to meet everyone this past week at the Gary & Mary West Senior Wellness Center was wonderful. The whole experience was different from what I am accustomed to– from meeting at an off-campus site to interacting with community seniors, so I felt like I did not accomplish what I had expected to achieve at my first community event. I hope that this upcoming Saturday, I will be able to take greater initiative in making conversations with the seniors. I found myself relying on the seniors to carry the conversation; on one hand, there was one man who quietly sipped on his coffee and left as I tried speaking, and on the other, there was another man who happily engaged in conversation as I listened in. My goal next time is to 1) ask more than “how are you doing” and 2) commit to reflective listening strategies and navigate how to best follow up with my own stories, questions, or comments. Another aspect of the experience were the things I saw and heard outside of class time. I had arrived at the site much earlier than the expected arrival time, so I parked and waited in my car across the street. In one higher corner of St. Joseph’s Cathedral was an unhoused man seeking shelter. A passerby called out to the man to leave immediately or he would call the police because this was not the first time that he had warned him to leave. I’m not sure who the passerby is or if it is his role to supervise the area, but the interaction was disheartening. The man talking shelter did not seem to be troubling anyone so he resisted the passerby’s remarks, but eventually left due to the threat of a police call. Across the street in the parking lot were other individuals experiencing homelessness, so I am curious as to why the passerby singled out the man alone. Since the center mentioned that they serve those experiencing homelessness, I wonder if some of the individuals I saw there utilize their services and how they can receive greater assistance. The housing crisis in San Diego is having profound effects on the local aging community, and I hope that in several weeks, I can have greater knowledge on the kinds of concrete solutions and volunteering opportunities that I can take to help combat these issues.
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Shina Luu Shina Luu is a General Biology and Global Health double major from Escondido, CA. She Archives
March 2022
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