Life Course Reflection Essay

Improved Essays
Using service-learning to gain knowledge about a topic is very rewarding. I have gained many personal skills just through service work. Even though I have volunteered many times, older people were an area that I was not familiar with. The only elderly people I was familiar with were my family members and friends. I have always been interested in learning about older people and I really enjoyed working with them and being around them but I never thought about actually taking a course on the study of older people. Before taking this course, I believed all of the stereotypes placed onto older people. This course has taught me that the stereotypes are not always true. I was also unaware of the gerontological theories and how they can really relate …show more content…
People are always changing and this is something that is very relevant to my life currently. The Life-Course Perspective gather that aging is definitely a life-long process. I have been volunteering for the Community Soup Kitchen for a long time and there is one elderly man that has been attending our lunches since I have been there. In these short four years, he has changed in many ways. This proves that people are still changing throughout their lives and that the Life-Course Perspective is still very relevant. The senior citizens at the luncheon were in different stages of their lives mentally. While I was going around and talking to them, I was able to gather that most of them are still changing, mentally and physically. This is something that fascinates me because while some people might be the same age, they are not at the same mental state. Issues in Aging talks about the theories and perspectives that scientists use to describe aging and getting older. Learning about these in chapter two were really interesting. Personally, the Life-Course Perspective is the only theory that really relates to the people I have come in contact with because it is something I relate to and the elderly people I talk to can relate to it as well. Aging is also different between races

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Is3350 Unit 1 Assignment

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages

    One of the most exciting things that have happened in this new semester of school is having the opportunity of attending a service learning class. Personally, I believe that it is important to engage not only in educational programs, but also in service learning courses that will help us grow as service agents and leaders in our communities. Having the opportunity of working hand in hand with the House of Loreto is not only an enrichment opportunity, but also since I am studying Occupational Therapy it helps me to have a deeper understanding of the elderly population which I plan on working with in the future. Working closely with the resident Eileen Miller helped me to have a deeper understanding of the course readings and how the elders…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Case Study: A Comparison of Two Older Adults Stephanie Manning OT 626 The aging process is inevitable and yet the way in which an individual interprets or perceives the aging process can vary.…

    • 1928 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    An older adult may not experience a change in identity in response to an obstacle they experience, but instead, their actions have the ability to influence others identity and views. The stronger an identity is, the less likely it will be influenced by obstacles and conflicts because they have often been faced before. Instead of obstacles and conflicts influencing the individual 's identity, they can change the observer 's identity by watching the individual facing the obstacles and conflicts because it shows them a new outlook and…

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    2 The term ‘life course’ means the developments and changes in people’s lives over a period of time. 3 One reason why there is a high rate of lone parent families among Black Caribbean and Black African families in Britain might be that because of high rates of unemployment or other reasons, males from these ethnic groups find it difficult to carry out the traditional breadwinner role. A second reason that has been suggested is that they follow a different family type, which has been imported to Britain, where the mother relies more on female relatives than on her male partner to support her family.…

    • 7442 Words
    • 30 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Holston Service Learning Project Service learning is a type of learning experience that involves community service to teach using real world scenarios. For my service-learning project I volunteered at Holston Health and Rehabilitation Center. Holston is a place for senior citizens to come when they are either too old to care for themselves at home or are recovering from surgery. I do many things when I volunteer there. I can help with anything from decorating, printing, organizing, or cleaning.…

    • 1434 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As an incoming freshman in August of 2015 taking Rhetoric 105, I not only learned how to take apart papers, summarize, paraphrase, analyze and construct passages, but overall to be a great thinker. There are many ways that a person can tell you that works to become a better thinker, but it starts within you. While writing papers this fall semester, I learned that my writing became better when I a. understood what was being asked of me via the criteria, b. allowed myself to make mistakes in order to understand what I was and wasn 't doing correctly, c. I started to question myself, not in a way of was the work too hard, but in the sense of what the assignment and the thesis I am creating is asking. At this stage, you have to be completely real…

    • 1069 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Hi Verenice, I agree the that the major themes of the life course perspective are important to the social work practice because it is a framework for courses of life. As social worker we be knowledgeable about clients’ history. Through assessments we learn clients age, race, gender, culture, religion, educational background, work experience, marital status, and health issues. All of this information is important when considering the major themes and how they are vital to us as social workers. Knowing the clients’ past history, where and who they are in the present can help us empower them to be who what to be in the future.…

    • 262 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Late Adulthood and Death Paper Having awesome desires makes it conceivable to anticipate the life course , all the more motivation to address its difficulties and perceive its glad amazements. Maturing hasn 't been seen as a basic trip for quite a while. Ageism is the one partiality we as a whole face, in spite of the fact that we can avert it if just we figure out how to expect it (MIT Press , 2002). Disposition has any kind of effect, yet a man might not have inspected contemplations and emotions around a standout amongst the most principal parts of your life which is maturing. It is senseless to deny we change as we become more seasoned; for the majority of us, this implies we turn out to be a greater amount of ourselves, less hesitant…

    • 1438 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Parents around the world have their opinions on how children should be raised and what is best for them, however, it is scientifically proven that the life stages Erik Erikson theorized has proven true to some degree, especially for me personally. He explains that there are eight life phases every child, adolescent, and adult go through, whether he or she is aware of it or not. I was impacted between the ages of 13 and 19 years old. Mentally, physically, and emotionally I grew up to who I am today. I have looked at older people, watched them make mistakes, told myself to be different, and I have strived for that ever since.…

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Introduction There are two theories in which this essay will investigate, reflect as well as discuss its relevance and limitations. The first theory is the life course perspective and the other is the strengths perceptive. Both of these theories will be analyzed and critiqued throughout the paper. This essay will be divided into subsections that will cover what the theory is, each theories strengths and limitations, the relevance and importance of each theory in relation to social work, how these theories overlap and lastly, its relevance through empirical research. Theories Life course perspective was developed in the 1960’s and primarily focused on analyzing the lives of people through social, structural and cultural contexts (Hutchinson,…

    • 1329 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I personally have noticed many changes throughout this course. I mostly noticed how now I analyze my jobs more with my coworkers, bosses and myself. I have one job that I absolutely love and another one that I do not care for very much, I did not really understand why because I get along well with my coworkers and higher ups. As our course went on and I started to understand business some more I then realized why there were certain things that were shaping my views about my jobs. One big thing that I noticed was the team work at my jobs.…

    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Compare and Contrast the views of Higher Education From a general point of view, higher education can be beneficial to some college students. As I compare and contrast the article, “Should Everyone Go To College” to Freeman A. Hrabowski’s “Colleges Prepare People for Life”, I realized Hrabowski’s article has primarily focused on how higher education leads to many opportunities, and does not go in depth on the negative aspects of why college cannot be suited for everyone. In contrast, the article, Stephanie Owen and Isabel Sawhill’s “Should Everyone Go to College” contains both sides of the argument. This article explains how college may not be the ‘right’ choice for everyone because every career path or goal is different,…

    • 1392 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Every single person has a different standpoint of what is important to make his or her life a good and happy life, and everyone has the control to make that life possible. Aristotle believed the good life is one which thrives and that individuals live happily and opportunely. Socrates was another philosopher that contributed in the argument on the good life and how it should be achieved. According to Socrates, the good life is one that is not materialistic but rather about the mind of an individual. He argued that an individual with a healthy mind tends to live the good life as compared to that who is wealthy.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My Goals For High School

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages

    My Goals This semester is a new beginning for me. I 'm excited to continue this year working hard for good grades and experiencing new opportunities that make me a better person. My grades in school are my highest priority. I’m always worried about my grades going down or not being prepared for an exam.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Have you ever pondered the idea of existing solely for yourself? We exist in life individually, but when we share our stories with others we create the possibility of someone else being able to relate. In a way, sharing my personal journey statement can bring me together with others who see the same vision as myself. I know this isn’t the kind of story you’d expect to hear, but I can guarantee you this is a story that needs to be heard. My journey of self-development has taken scale on a variety of experiences.…

    • 705 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays