MY STORIES:

• Canyon Rim Care Center is home to many older adults in Salt Lake City
• Aging in place: 50 years in Winnifred Jardine’s home
• Saving for retirement: start now

MY BLOG:

Initially, upon finding out that the beat to be covered this semester would be aging, I thought that the topics would be hard to relate to and uninteresting to me. I have been proven wrong. I think the main thing I learned from covering this beat is that in general, everyone has the same wants and desires in life. Those whom we consider to be “old” were “young” once. They still have goals and needs and wants. It made me realize that one day I am going to be an age that I now think of as old and I will have learned a lot from my experiences, but I will still have a lot to learn and do. Some of the people I interviewed, like Winnifred Jardine, inspired me to prepare for that time by taking care of myself and thinking about the future. People who have lived longer than I have have a lot to share and teach. It was interesting to hear about their experiences and what they think about the way things are now, as opposed to how they were when they were my age.

It has been easy to go on with my life without thinking about how aging adults live. Studying statistics about the aging population has helped me realize that this demographic greatly affects our society and that we need to be aware of what we need to do to prepare financially and in every other way. The things I have learned from studying this beat have helped me know what to do to help my parents, grandparents and others. I want to call others to action on this subject so that they know what needs to be done so that our society can age happily and productively.

Overall, I feel more respect for people who are older than I am. I want to know their stories and learn from them. I want to prepare for when my parents can’t take care of themselves anymore and I want to be ready financially, physically and mentally for my own life. I also want to educate others on the issues and resources available so that aging can be enjoyable.

ABOUT ME:

I am a senior at the University of Utah studying communication with an emphasis in print journalism. I hope to become a columnist or a creative writer after I graduate in spring 2015. I also enjoy editing. One of my passions is writing creatively and I hope to publish a book someday. Another one of my goals is to write and illustrate children’s books.

Traveling and seeing the world and how other people live is a big part of my life. I studied at a university in Innsbruck, Austria, for a semester and had the opportunity to travel to different places.

Some of my other passions include: running, painting, playing the piano, reading, cooking and skiing.

I hope to share other people’s stories, make a difference and inspire others through my writing.

Filed under: Blogs & Bios, Student-Journalists |