Being a young person at old people's home (Essay Sample)

Student’s Name Instructor’s Name Course Date Being a Young Person at the Old Peoples Home Over the spring break I was privileged to visit an old people’s home. This was part of a task assigned to me by a charity organization that I had volunteered in. I was supposed to conduct a focus group discussion with the senior citizens in the home and identify the various issue and challenges that they undergo in their everyday lives. When I arrived at the elderly care facility I quickly observed that majority of the people were quite old and I was the only young person. Majority of the older people seemed to be above 70 years of age. The workers at the facility also seemed to be beyond their mid-thirties. This made me feel very nervous and uncomfortable. I was not used to being around a large group of older people and I did not know how to conduct myself because of the tension. As I walked down the hall way to the meeting room I felt as if the older people in the facility watched me closely observing all the moves that I made. This made me feel completely out of place. Majority of them walked using support due to their old age. Many of them also appeared to be sickly and I looked as the oddest person in the facility since I was young, healthy and I generally moved quicker than them. I felt as if the long stares were signs and gestures that I was not welcome in the place. When I entered the meeting room where I was to conduct the focus group discussion the atmosphere of nervousness intensified. As I introduced myself and the topic of discussion I struggled a little bit as i did not know whether I was conducting myself in the appropriate manner. However, as the discussion progressed the older people expressed a lot of interest in getting to know about the organizations that had sent me there and my opinion on the various issues that had been raised and discussed. They encouraged me to participate and contribute in the discussion. I found it difficult to express myself within the group because of the age difference. I had the notion that they would not value my opinion and would regard my views as childish. I was afraid that my views and contributions would embarrass me. When the discus...