By: Jenny Chen
“From July 2 to August 7, 2018, I shadowed a geriatrician at Lorien Elkridge, a skilled nursing facility and rehabilitation center. I distinctly remember walking down the long corridor, being hit by the smell of a hospital, and awkwardly sitting on a stool in the nurses station. I recall peering into the giant “fishbowl” windows in front of the nurses station and hearing an elderly woman repeatedly call out for her daughter. Apparently, this was common practice for her and everyone was used to it, but upon hearing it, I was slightly shaken, as it sounded almost ghost-like and so far away. Her daughter later visited with a lollipop and the woman calmed down, making me feel better. The first floor was a temporary home for those recovering from surgery and attending physical therapy. Each patient was as distinct as the next: some in their late forties and others in their early nineties; some completely lucid and remarkably aware, and others left lost at the hands of severe dementia; some once famous politicians who ran for president, and others simply average Joes. One of the most memorable experiences I had here was while talking to a former actuary with dementia, who, when told I would be taking calculus next year, gave me two book recommendations, including the author and various volumes. This left me quite impressed at the fact that someone with dementia could remember information like this and was so excited to impart his knowledge on me. I kept the paper he gave me in my journal, and still smile at the very sight of it. When we visited the second floor, to quote my words from my journal, “it was intense,” as only people in hospice care or those suffering from Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or dementia stayed here. Prior to this day, I had not really understood these diseases and seeing so many people who had forgotten so much of their lives made me feel awful and question why life had to end in such a horrible way. It was only after stepping away from the overall melancholy of the situation and reexamining it in a more observational way when I noticed that, despite all the horrible things that seemed to be happening to these innocent elderly people, they were still smiling. Before shadowing, I had lived my life in such high stress, faced with the daunting task of finding a career that could provide for me physically and still be emotionally-stimulating. What began as me trying to determine if healthcare was right for me became an impactful life-altering experience, where I had the opportunity to learn from and interact with a population I had hardly ever spoken to before. All these people, despite life throwing obstacles at them like this, were still living by allowing themselves to smile and keep growing in this changing world. Not only did my shadowing experiences make me learn a great deal about the healthcare field, but they also made me learn a great deal about the harsher realities of life and how significant it is to continue to thrive and positively move forwards.”
Jenny's Connection:
She sat at the same table as me during freshman year in art class. Her experience shows how breaking preconceptions about others will allow us to change and grow as individuals. I’ve had a similar experience during freshman year, when Howard High gave me the opportunity to travel to Argentina for an immersion program. Before going to Argentina, I had preconceptions about how people lived and what they did that was fueled by ignorance and media portrayal of South America. When I arrived, Argentina was nothing like I expected. The country was still developing, but I saw how society was changing with increasing economic activity and the improvement of living standards. We also visited a rural village where children had to walk 1 hour to school every day. They were not conventionally well-off, but the people in the village were happy. They didn’t have much, but they had one another. They invited outsiders in with open arms, and I cried. I gave me a new insight of the world and motivated me to learn more about the different cultures that exist globally without the previous biases that I held.
