Reflection on Aging: By Olivia Gagne

Gerontology taught me many amazing things about aging that I didn’t consider before this class. We learned not only common themes of aging, but also learned about someone else’s life for one of our projects.  Our task was to interview an older adult about their life. During this process, we asked questions related to each stage of development from childhood to older adult adulthood.  We then interpreted our results to see if they reached all of Erikson’s stages of development. Lastly, we collected photos that aligned with their story and created a Life book for the individual we interviewed.

Before doing this project, I had absolutely no idea how special the project would be to me. I was so interested in the life this individual lived, and felt as though I was re-watching their life as a movie throughout the interviews. This created a memorable moment for not only me, but the person I interviewed while reflecting on the beautiful life they’ve lived so far. I learned some valuable lessons from this older adult, such as being kind to everyone no matter what, and to truly do whatever you love no matter what others say. They taught me to continue to do anything that makes me happy no matter what other people think. This was one of my most favorite tasks during our Gerontology class and truly gave me a new perspective on aging. 

Connecting my project to the class, I learned a lot throughout this semester. I had many biased opinions when viewing aging before beginning this class. I figured we would talk about how older individuals all aged in a similar way, but I was very wrong. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from the class and I’m beyond happy to share that I learned a lot. One thing I learned is that aging is different and unique for everyone.  It’s very dependent on how people treat their bodies, but can also be affected by things we cannot control such as sudden events and where we grew up. Aging is not simply a number. No matter how old, or young, it’s truly up to you to live the life you want to live. Unfortunately death can occur at any time and therefore we need to start being present and in the moment everyday we have. When my time does come, I rather remember living a beautiful and full life, opposed to regretting what I didn’t do.  This class provided me with hope and faith that no matter how old we get, we can still be ourselves and continue to do things that make us happy.