FOoOoOooOoD! Today is the potluck so I purposefully did not eat in the morning so I could try the food everyone brought and boy was it delicious. While eating (and getting seconds of course) we talked about the West Center prom and how we were really happy everyone enjoyed the games, photo-booth, raffles, good-bags and food but how we wished it was longer as we did not know we would only get about an hour to complete everything. We also got to plan our independent projects for next so I am excited to work with my group to make a community vegetable garden using a drip irrigation system to make it more sustainable. I look forward to seeing how we are able to get this done and learning more about sustainable gardening by gaining experience. We will also try to incorporate intergenerational learning by showing the seniors how to keep the garden going and have them teach us their methods too! The main planning we need to get done by next quarter, in order to be on schedule, is to find a senior center that will have space and need for our project plus will allow us to continue this project. I am pretty sad this is the last class day for this quarter but thankfully next quarter is not to far!
After a couple weeks of visiting different senior centers and gathering knowledge, class is back at school! It felt so different being inside for a couple hours as I became used to being out and about with my classmates. It was a busy day as we started off with the first of the current events presentations. One of the groups led a discussion about elders and driving such as if there should be a required test for elders to pass once they reach a certain age in order to assess their driving safety and the safety of those around them. It was an interesting discussion as it is a hard question to answer as being able to drive is very impactful for our societies. It is the way many people are able to access places like markets, work, friends, family as public transport can be unreliable, inaccessible or take a much longer time while private transport like uber, lyft, and taxis can be expensive. Becoming older can be senses will become less reliable but it is really difficult to answer how to make sure elders are able to keep their licenses or not because cars could be the only way they are able to live more freely. I agree that there should at least be visual assessment for driving past a certain age in terms of making sure they are wearing the proper vision correction glasses or contacts. After the current events presentation which also included a discussion about social isolation, we talked about our Neighborhood Assessment Projects. My group decided on assessing Sabre Springs so we are excited to see how it ranks for our six different categories. We also have the oral history projects next week and I will be presenting! I decided to visually make my project as a jewelry box with my grandma’s memories on hearts inside the box as she was a jewelry and the hearts relate to one of her memories so time to finish that up right now!
Today is the last day of memoir sharing. It’s the morning after the lively Casa de Manana prom but sadly, there will be no dancing today. After reliving the events of yesterday, I got to listen to some current events. We discussed how age discrimination in employment makes its harder for older adults to find jobs. Social security is not enough to survive and cost of living is way too high. This is why the senior job fair in Austin, Texas is an amazing idea as it creates employment opportunities for seniors who could potentially not otherwise not be able to compete against younger candidates. I think these type of fairs should be conducted all across the US and account for the aging population demographics, higher price areas and relevant job opportunities. After the discussion, my classmates presented their memoirs in the shape of paintings, booklets, powerpoints, objects and more! Bianca talked about her grandmother’s love and happiness for all her children, how strong and optimist she is and how she has the coolest birthday celebrations! Leena talked about her father up in Palestine with Israeli soldier occupation, coming to America, and how he is happiest with his family just like he was with his big family. Tan talked about her father’s immigration journey to America and how through his hard work and perseverance, he was able to bring his family over as well. Sabrina’s mother also had a tough immigration journey but prevailed! Claudia’s grandmother started a business and overcame many hardships such as with cancer. Judy’s aunt and how she considers her special ed students as her family, Deanne made a car keys memoir in honor of her dad’s memories, and Katrina talked about her grandma bringing Taiwanese culture to Africa which was the happiest time of her life. Last but not least Ameena talked about her dad’s journey to America and love for his family while Janan mentioned her mother’s journey from Lebanon to Sri Lanka to Dubai and how her mom is always smiling and positive. It was so amazing to hear about my classmates’ family’s immigration experiences and love for their family!
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SHIVANI PATELWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
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