A MINKA Experience
Written by Barbara George, MSSW
As a native Hoosier, I continue to be amazed and delighted at all the interesting and innovative finds in our state. One which has also been of benefit to me is USI's GWEP Program and the Minka Learning Lab for Living Well. High on my “bucket list” has been to stay on a life path of continual learning, and that is what I have had as a member of the Minka Advisory Board.
This USI arm of the learning curve has brought me amazement due to the level of interest, dedication and creativity from the faculty and staff, students and community members who are continuing to create new and advanced ideas and products to assist all of us as our life's journeys advance into the upper range of years. This is an example of what I have always thought education was intended to be for all.
The students who have the opportunity to encounter the Minka are having an opportunity to have an experience of what losing common abilities might be like. Many of us who are older students are given a preview of potential coming events. What an amazing intergenerational and interdepartmental, investigative project this is! And it leads to such creative ideas which are added to by many who are coming from other USI programs, as well as some community members’ personal experiences. This mix also enhances the possibility of advancing the “aging in place” opportunities for so many, both in Indiana and beyond.
For faculty and staff, engagement and experience with the Minka can also add to the sense of pride in USI for making such advances in the field of senior living. As a person who has long been engaged in the study of what opportunities are available to people as they age, I can say this project is one which I have not seen the likes of anywhere else. Thanks to Dr. Bill Thomas for his continuing engagement with, and support of, the Minka project and his help in advancing the continuing movement toward improvement in the ideas and technology for the aging population.
And speaking as one community member of the Minka Advisory Board, I want to say thank you with many different voices for this opportunity. One voice is from my desire to be a continuous lifelong learner. Another is from a younger elder in her 80th decade. And yet another is from a Hoosier who continues to seek out and be delighted at the Hoosier creativity and forward thinking which is modeled by this USI project.
Barbara George is a retired flight attendant with American Airlines from Indianapolis, Indiana. She received her MSSW from the University of Texas, Arlington (UTA) while working full-time with American Airlines. She learned about the Minka through research into communal studies at universities. Her curiosity knows no limits, and she encourages others to keep looking beyond and learning as much as they can because “learning is a lifelong engagement.”
