After few weeks of volunteering for LBFE, I have gained many advices and experiences from elders and other volunteers at the Symphony Plaza East City Site. I feel that this volunteer experience is not what I thought before. It is not only taking care of elders, but it also building a connection between youths and elders. Elders can share their stories, youths can share their attitudes and passion to create any possibilities. In LBFE, I have learned two most important things.
I serve in two roles as part of my volunteer LBFE. One of the roles is that I hang out with elders. We play many games such as board games, paints, card games, puzzles, and Sudoku. I have learned some games that I have never played before, and these games are very simple but it requires lots of thinking to win. Some games I have to explain the rules, but few games are too complicated or too difficult to explain. In the time, I found out the differences between my games and their games. In their era, the games they play requires lots of thinking. Everyone knows the rules because it is easy and simple. Players stand at the same starting point to compete with others. However, the games I play are too complicated. Sometimes, I feel that the game is just a comparison that a better understanding of rules, but they are still willing to learn. Then, I realized that elders do not want games, they just want the connection between people.
Another of the roles, is that we communicate with elders. Listening is to absorb their life experiences. They have a lot of fascinating stories. Different people have unique lives, their stories have lots of opportunities to share with youth. Elders have their experiences to avoid errors and mistakes, but youths do not have enough experiences to prevent them from failure. As a volunteer, I listen to their stories to develop my capacity. At LBFE, I have gained lots of valuable experiences which took elders a lifetime to taste, and I appreciate the opportunities to listen and learn from them.
About the author:
Hsuan volunteered in the City Site program at the Symphony East site from April 2016- June 2016. Originally from China, he is graduated from Northeastern University in May.