Blog 22: Mentorship

  Literal

• Log of specific hours with a total and a description of your duties updated on the right hand side of your blog ---- Senior Project Hours
• Augustine Alvarado from the West Covina Senior Center

    Interpretive

•  What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?
• The most important thing I learned is how to better communicate with senior citizens. Being around them often and learning by doing allowed me to learn more about their interests and habits. I have gained knowledge on the senior audience and how to better attend to them and talk with them.

   Applied

• How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ?  Please explain.
• I have worked with seniors and on small projects to better serve them, which increases participation due to the seniors having more pleasant experience at the center. I have watched first hand what the seniors like to do most at senior centers. Working on boards and the famous lunch program really got me into the social conversations with the seniors.

Blog 12: Mentorship 10 hours check

1. Where are you doing your mentorship?

•  I am doing my mentorship at the West Covina Senior Center.

2. Who is your contact?

• My contact is Augustine Alvarado. He is a Program Recreation Leader at the senior center.

3.  How many total hours have you done?

• I haven't been able to record many hour I did in October and November. I have to go to ask for the volunteer records at the center to find out the specific date and hours. But I currently have  a total of 31.5  hours logged.

4. Summarize the ten hours that you did. 

• In my ten hours I got to get a sense of how things are run at the senior center, and the daily routine. I helped to give out lunch tickets, and to serve the lunches. I also spoke to some seniors and listened to their stories of the past. I redecorated some of the boards because a lot of them seemed old, faded, and outdated. 

Blog 2: Summer Mentorship Component

1. Make a log of the specific hours and descriptions of your duties:

• Mentorship Log

2. What is the contact name and number of where you volunteered? 

• West Covina Senior Center (626) 331-5366

3. What questions were raised because of the 10 hours of  experience?

• Why don’t most seniors stay at the center after lunch?
•  Are senior services adversely affected by sharing services with non-seniors?
•  How does the West Covina Senior Center compare to other senior centers?
• How can a senior center attract more seniors?
• What changes can be made to better serve both the older generation of seniors (silent generation) and the newer generation (baby boomers)?

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

•  I believe that learning to understand the differences between seniors and the youth of today, is the most important thing I gained from my experience.  I believe this because many people in both generations have different opinions on the other and argue as to why theirs is best. I have come to realize that there are some positive and negative aspects of both generations that should be shared with one another.  

5. What is your senior project topic going to be? How did what you did help you choose a topic? 

• My senior project is going to be City Senior Services, understanding the Past, Present, and Improving the Future. Spending most of my summer volunteering and having my mentorship at the senior center helped me decide on my topic. I enjoy the environment of the community coming together to provide the best services possible to our seniors. I also discovered how much I enjoy conversing with seniors, they are the window to the past and they should be honored.