After my first semester in PULSE I know that I am so lucky to have been placed with LBFE. I have gained so much experience and so many memories working with the elderly community. I feel as though I have grown from my companionships than my elders. Every week I am excited to spend time with Joe and Louise and talk to my other elders on the phone.
I believe that consistency is the way LBFE forms strong relationships. I call the same elders every week as well as visit the same two in person. Hearing a familiar voice makes a friendship grow; talking to the same elders makes them comfortable opening up to me. Joe and I already have a tradition; when I visit we eat dinner together. Louise and I always sit in the same seats after a long day of classes and just chat.
As opposed to other PULSE placements that play with children or tutor kids in school, I feel like I obtain much more knowledge from my elders. Knowing that my elders have lived such long experienced lives they can give me advice or have many interesting stories from when they were young. I love listening to my elders tell me stories, especially because all of the elders in LBFE are in isolation; that being said I might be the only person my elder gets to talk to each week. Because of that my time with my elders is very special to me, I hope that I am making a difference in theirs lives the way they are making a difference in mine.