4 Melissa Cannon . . . cont. from page 1 I then spent five weeks as a volunteer English teacher in Zhengzhou, China with the Orbis Institute, a nonprofit organization based out of Denver, CO. Feeling a fresh sense of self-efficacy and determination, I enrolled at Portland State University and joined the School of Urban Studies and Planning's community development undergraduate program, earning my bachelor’s degree with an emphasis in housing and economic development in March 2009. I was originally drawn to the field of gerontology by the PSU Institute on Aging (IOA) program “Global Aging and Health: Enhancing Communities in Nicaragua.” The annual service learning course takes students to Nicaragua for approximately two weeks to help build capacity and develop services and institutional support for low-income Nicaraguan elders. Upon speaking to Alan DeLaTorre, a PhD student working in the IOA, I quickly realized that the aging of our population is a forceful demographic shift and a compelling topic for research. With Alan’s encouragement, I applied to PSU’s Urban Studies PhD program in the fields of gerontology and community development. Much to my disbelief and elation I was accepted into the program at 22 years of age. Since fall 2009 I have been working as a Graduate Research Assistant for Dr. Margaret Neal, Director of the IOA, doing various tasks for the “Aging Matters, Globally and Locally” initiative which focuses locally on putting Portland on the map as an “Age-Friendly City.” I have been fortunate to engage not only in a variety of local experiences but also in the coordination of the “Global Aging and Health” program in which I had originally planned to participate before finishing my undergraduate work. I joined the 2010 group of students traveling to Nicaragua, where we spent time in an elder home (hogar) and developed activities for the residents. We attended a discussion on elders and service learning and presented our experiences to the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Managua (UNAM). Different teams were formed to focus on individual projects such as hosting health clinics, collecting data, and demonstrating healthy nutrition and exercise routines. I was part of a construction team that built a home for an older woman living in substandard housing outside of Boaco. Our team used an innovative environmentally-friendly technique through which plastic bottles are secured into a metal frame using poultry wire and cement. Melissa Cannon and fellow graduate student Alan DeLaTorre in 2010, completing a test model of a house partially made of recycled bottles in a rural community outside Boaco, Nicaragua. Cannon and DeLaTorre were engaged in a service learning program through PSU’s Institute on Aging. I am grateful every day that I have this opportunity to help shape the future of our society as one of many who are researching its most powerful demographic shift, the aging of the population. I owe much of my gratitude and resolve to the support and love of my boyfriend, the encouragement of my family and friends, and to the guidance of the leaders, mentors and role models who surround me every day. I am so thankful to RAPS for the great honor of receiving the first RAPS scholarship in 2011. --Melissa Cannon RAPS club reports, cont. RAPS Hikers like long walks on the beach On Friday, Feb. 10 we will hike on the beach at Oswald West State Park. Due to the tides schedule, we will meet to carpool at the Cedar Hills Shopping Center DMV at 8:00 am. RSVP to Larry Sawyer 503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@comcast.net by Thursday, Feb. 9. We will have lunch on the coast before heading back to Portland. --Larry Sawyer
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