Section 1: Experience Overview & My Motivation
As part of a school group, we visited a local old age home to spend time with the elderly residents and understand their lives. I’ve always loved hearing people’s stories and learning about different lives and cultures. To me, older generations are the most experienced people you can meet and the best you can learn from. They have lived through so many years, faced real hardships, and carry a kind of perspective you can only get from time. I really wanted to use my natural interest in listening and supporting people to connect with the residents at this facility and offer some genuine companionship.
During our visit, my whole focus was just on being there for them and having real conversations. We talked about everything, what their lives were like when they were teenagers, what they used to dream of becoming, and how they feel about life now. We also touched on some heavy, personal things, like whether they still stay in touch with their kids and how they truly feel about living in the old age home .
Section 2: Learning Outcomes (LOs)
LO1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
While my natural empathy made it easy to connect with the residents on a deeper level, I realized I need to work on my ability to keep a conversation going fluidly and improve my small talk skills when initial gaps in communication happened.
LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills
It was a challenge to initiate and maintain conversations at the very beginning of the visit, but as time passed, I pushed through the initial awkwardness and grew much more comfortable, open, and confident while talking to them.
LO4: Show perseverance and commitment in CAS experience
Engaging in continuous, deeply personal conversations requires significant mental and emotional focus, and I showed commitment by staying fully present and dedicating my energy to the residents for the entire duration of the visit.
LO5: Demonstrate skills and benefits of working collaboratively
Since there was a group of us, we worked in a team to divide and spread across the facility, ensuring we gave balanced attention to everyone and spent true quality time with each and every resident.
LO7: Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions
I had to balance showing deep sensitivity and emotional support with knowing the proper boundaries of privacy, making sure I always maintained complete respect for the residents’ comfort levels during our chats.
