This week we visited the Gary and Mary West Senior Wellness Center in Downtown San Diego, where we will be executing our first group HAP. It was very interesting to learn that the one building provided health and wellness services to seniors who came through. From social services assistance to mental health and dental care, there were a wide variety of services available for those in need. Another thing I noticed was that there was great diversity. People were from different places and had different backgrounds. One particular elder I had a conversation with was actually from China and spoke Mandarin. A fun fact is that he is turning 100 this year! Using my broken Mandarin (I usually speak Cantonese), I introduced myself and the LCS program to him, and though he had hearing difficulties, he was able to understand eventually. His caretaker also showed up and we were able to converse better as she spoke Cantonese. I learned that he used to be a principal of a school in China and did other great things in his youth. I also took the chance to ask the caretaker some questions. I learned that the caretaker herself is retired (over 65) but she decided to continue working with the elder because she felt that he was in need. That was extremely warming to hear since the elder is facing some health problems. It was overall a great experience and I was glad that we had the opportunity to speak one-on-one with those at the senior center. Excited to go back again for our senior prom!
On Saturday, we had the opportunity to go around San Diego to tour and learn about some affordable housing options for seniors. We visited a wide range of homes from a small single room occupancy (SRO) to larger individual living spaces. Starting our day off in Downtown San Diego, we first went to the Potiker Family Senior Residences. The guides there gave our class a very informative presentation on the current status of housing for seniors and what we learned was pretty eye-opening. In a sense, I knew that the housing situation was severely bad for both the homeless and the seniors but after hearing statistics and seeing the reality of the living conditions, I realized that everything seemed to be worse than I thought. However, I think in each of the locations we visited, residents were thankful to be there and to have stable shelter. When we went to our next location, the Sara Francis Hometel, it was much more rundown than all the other sites. Rooms and hallways were smaller, but the application process was way more lenient. Other sites that we visited had their own unique character. Third on our list was the Talmadge Gateway, which was specifically meant for people who had a chronic disease or who were in close contact with homelessness (was homeless or was going to be homeless). Shortly after, we went to North Park Seniors where the housing focus was to specifically serve the LGBTQ community. In every location we visited, we were accompanied by very helpful tour guides, who I could tell were very passionate about their job. I was glad that there are dedicated people working in the affordable housing field, though in society today, it might not be considered a prestigious occupation. I was also thankful for those who provide support for affordable housing and have hearts to give back and to address something that is very much needed. Overall, this experience humbled me as a person who has a home to go back to every single day.
From the start of the trip, I was also thinking about the elderly around me, how they need to be greater appreciated and how we as the younger generation need to take greater responsibility. I hope that more will realize and take action to address this severe housing crisis, not only in San Diego, but in cities with a rising senior population. We just had our first two weeks of classes! It was quite a busy start and transition back to a new quarter but after some winding down and rest, it was time to be productive. Our LCS class is held once a week every Wednesday with week 1 being a more detailed introduction and explanation of the course. The professors gave us a general overview of the projects we were going to work on and places we plan to visit. One project that stood out to me was a group healthy aging project (HAP) which consists of putting on a “senior” prom at one of the elderly community centers. I was excited to start planning this as there previously had been at least 100 attendees at the event. We also started off week 1 by reading and presenting on a book related to aging. I decided to choose Selling the Fountain of Youth: How the Anti-Aging Industry Made a Disease Out of Getting OldAnd Made Billions by Arlene Weintraub and so far, it has been quite interesting!
For class on week 2, we began to plan and work on our group HAP. We first brainstormed theme ideas, decided on one, and then were split into committees. As part of the decorations/gifts committee, my group was pretty passionate in planning what to buy and get to jazz up the event. One fun thing to note is that our student cohort has a variety of experiences and diverse backgrounds, so we had many ideas and resources to pull from. I was both glad and relieved that our class had great teamwork as we bounced ideas off each other in order to produce the best results. Add photos (optional) On Sunday, January 5th, we had our Life Course Scholars Retreat at the Martin Johnson House down at SIO. It was my first day back in San Diego coming from winter break and I was excited to start the quarter off by attending the retreat. The venue was extremely nice as it was surrounded by an ocean view and the weather was close to perfect as it was sunny yet chilly. Making the event right on time, I first spotted a familiar face upon entering the building. It turns out that my brother’s friend, Leeda, is also in the program! What a small world!
We then started the retreat shortly after by first introducing ourselves. It was really cool to see the variety of majors and interests people had in our small cohort. Professor Lewis and Bussell then introduced the program and we did a fun little icebreaker to get to know one another. Short lectures were then given by the two professors and I found some of the facts/statistics quite surprising about the aging population. After that we had a delicious lunch and more time to mingle with each other. Then we proceeded to move our bodies and took a short walk around the location and the view was just breathtaking. We even spotted multiple dolphins that afternoon and continued our conversations among the group outdoors. Dr. Patricia Benesh was also invited to speak at our retreat at one point. She had great insights on the elderly population as well as on how to write a meaningful memoir. Her presentation was genuine and heartfelt, and it further motivated me to do my project on my extraordinary person (EP). We ended off the retreat by playing a fun board game, similar to the game of life, but a bit more realistic. It was cool to see that the game had so much uncertainty, which is in a sense true, since that is what life is all about :P. Upon ending, there was a last activity for us to individually write on what we wanted to be like when we were 80. I thought this was an interesting prompt and began to fill my blank pages with determination. Then we said our goodbyes and parted with anticipation until our next meeting. |
Tiffany caiArchives
June 2020
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