Why Gerontology? – A Personal Stance

Hello all!

Savannah here! I wanted to take a little time to explain my background and why I choose to study Gerontology.

At the age of 16 (I’m 21 now, oh how the time flies), I began working at a little independent living retirement home in my hometown. Really I just wanted some spending money to waste on stuff I didn’t need, ya know, typically teenage nonsense at its finest. I was scared to work there at first, sure I wanted money, but I also had never been around the elderly. I never had the chance to learn more about such a large population.

So there I was. A naive girl determined to find a better paying job the instance I was old enough. The “plan” was to leave that job sooner than later.

Clearly that did not occur. As of this moment in time, I have worked in that very same retirement home for over four years and love it. In all honesty, even up until a year ago I was unsure as to if I really wanted to get my Masters in Gerontology. Truthfully, I wanted to graduate with my Bachelors in English and go work somewhere and leave it at that. But then on one random night at work, I started thinking. I began to realize that I couldn’t imagine myself working with any other population.

Unfortunately, the elderly are not cared for as they should. Working in a retirement home has taught me that much. The family members either don’t have the time to visit or are afraid to watch their family member go downhill. It is a sad truth of working in the industry. But it helped me in my decision.

No matter what happens in our lives, we all find our one true passion.

This is my passion. This is my story.