This week, residents had an opportunity to meet our students right where they are
- on Wichita State's campus. We flipped the script and Larksfield took a short field
trip to the Rhatigan Student Center where we held a large group session, our first
of the spring, and everyone had an opportunity to hear other perspectives. While only
six of eleven residents made the trip, their impact was felt in the room. Because
at this session, everyone had the opportunity to hear the passion with which residents
shared of their childhood. Conversation ranged from growing up in the cold winters
of Michigan, summers spent "shocking" the wheat on the farm, driving a car to school
illegally, and even stories into early adulthood of marriage and extravagant gifts
like a yellow Mercedes that was made on the exact date they were married.
Students also had the opportunity to share of their childhoods and how they contrasted to their resident's. Or better yet, how similar they were as one student described he too drove to school illegally, and it was a joy to see that connection and bond unfold. What stole the show though was a shared moment of ballroom dancing. When an instructor shared that part of her history is her experience as a ballroom dancing instructor, one resident leaned over to his student and said, "Get your camera ready." He then walked over to this instructor, and while doing so, explained that one of him and his wife's favorites things to do during their 63 years of marriage was ballroom dance. With outstretched hand, he asked her to dance. Having just lost his wife within the past couple of years, it was the most touching moment I have experienced this semester. It brought smiles to everyone's faces in the room, and a tear to mine. That's what this is all about, isn't it? Reliving memories, sharing them across generations, and remembering that we all have a story. How fortunate we are when we get to see a part of someone's story play out before our eyes.
Student Snapshots
"I thought it was so cool how we could all relate to each other and find interest in each other's simple but personal experiences. We genuinely had a fun time and a good laugh. That was different for me, to be able to coexist, because with adults in my family it has always been a adult split and have their adult talk and the younger ones do the same and separate by age groups. At the meeting it made it possible in my head now that we can all as a family genuinely spend time together and have fun and conversate with each other."
"He talked about all the vacations and silly stories he experienced as a young adult and kid, and it baffled me how free kids were back then compared to now. He was so independent compared to kids now and it really showed me how he is the way he is now. Without his independence, there wouldn’t be any trace of his go-getter attitude."