Why We Need Intergenerational Relationships
[Applause]
life doesn’t make sense without
interdependence
we need one another and the sooner we
learn that the better for us all
was said by the famed psychologist eric
erickson
and unfortunately we’re still struggling
to live up to those words today
because we’ve allowed our society to
isolate age groups
resulting in misconnections between
generations
there’s an age-old belief that the young
and older generations are meant to be at
odds with one another
youth are often seen as misunderstood
while the older community is often seen
as outdated
this thinking however only drives us
apart
so we decided to challenge these
generational divisions
by looking for ways to connect with the
older community
we started by visiting our local senior
center a few times a week
and our lives were quickly enhanced by
stories showed over lunches
and friendships we need over card games
we had now interacted with members of
our community
that we otherwise never would have met
but when we wanted to share this
experience with others our age
we’re surprised to receive few yeses and
more
wise our experience went a little
like this why would i want to hang out
with old people
what would we talk about wouldn’t that
be awkward
would we have anything in common why
would i want to hang out with raisins
[Laughter]
as far as we’re concerned raisins are
nothing more than the unwanted leftovers
and our trail mix
and act
[Music]
and actually interactions between
generations can forge meaningful
friendships
and mentorships for both parties
involved
in both of our lives we had missed out
on building these meaningful
relationships
largely because we didn’t seek out
opportunities to interact but when we
did
we learned that there’s a lot that we
can learn from the life experiences
of others so this is an open letter to
our generation
start seeking relationships with the
older community
and take the time to learn from the life
experiences of someone else
you might be wondering why do the 18
year olds in front of you today
believe that we need intergenerational
interdependence
well the woman beside us today is our
why
meet margaret first off
she is the most competitive rummy player
we’ve ever met
and no matter the outcome of any game i
can promise you she’ll be cracking jokes
at the end
win or lose and i can also promise you
that you can almost always finding her
find her rocking a bright a pair of
bright yellow crocs
when we first met margaret over a year
ago we quickly bonded over card games
while she shared stories of her past
from working in the fbi
raising a family and our own path to
self-discovery we fell in love with her
quirky personality and warm heart
and our friendship with margaret became
one of the most meaningful friendships
we’ve ever had
recently however our lives seemed to
take a turn for the worse
or so we had thought when the
coronavirus pandemic first hit
all the important life milestones that
we had been told to look forward to as
high school seniors
had quickly slipped away and it felt
like it all happened
within a matter of seconds life had gone
harder for margaret as well
she told us about how the simple task
going grocery shopping
had quickly become a daunting one to
make matters worse
we couldn’t see margaret in person
anymore in fear of contributing to the
spread of the virus
while the quarantine started extremely
difficult and isolating for us
it didn’t actually end up feeling that
way because of our friendship with
margaret
she encouraged us to look for the
opportunity in these unprecedented times
and helped us look at our situation from
a new angle
so when our interactions were forced to
shift the phone calls
margaret guided us in ways that none of
our peers could have
because instead all of our minds were
clouded by the disappointing prospects
of reimagined high school milestones
like graduation and prom so
instead together we plan the most exotic
prom scenarios over the phone from her
favorite idea of a jello themed dance
to what we ultimately settled on a
social distance parking lot prom with
our friends
if it wasn’t for margaret’s friendship
and guidance we likely
would have never been able to approach
the pandemic from a new and creative
angle and a lot of the memorable
experiences that we were able to have
might have never happened
in turn margaret says our friendship
quote restored her faith
in young people because nowadays us
older folks have the demand for young
people to even acknowledge us
it doesn’t matter how old you are now
when you miss out on
a chance to form human connections you
miss out on an opportunity
to learn from the life experiences of
someone else
with our friendship with margaret she
brought a whole new perspective into our
lives
that was shaped by the experiences she’s
already had
margaret says that growing up she didn’t
have many people telling her
that she could be whatever she wanted so
she tries to relay this message forward
to us
in hopes that we can see the world as
full of opportunities despite whatever
challenges we might be facing
marker introduced us to many more
amazing members of our community
we met one woman charmaine who watched
the civil rights movement unfold in
birmingham
and later at the age of 60 went back to
college to learn more about it
we also met sandy a woman who started
her own bread and breakfast
and at the age of 72 found her new
passion
for bungee jumping
we also met pauline a woman
who endured countless years of gender
discrimination in order to pave the way
for herself
and several other women in geology a
field once traditionally
dominated by men through all the
experiences that we’ve had and the
people we met
we learned one really important thing
something as simple
and inevitable as age should have no say
in which human connections we learn from
inform
and we can assure you there is so much
to be learned
so the next time that you hear the
phrase okay boomer
i want you to think about how we’re
stronger when we realize that we can
actually be on the same team
i want you to think about jane fonda and
greta tunberg who are simultaneously
fighting climate change together
despite being generations apart i want
you to think about the 60s
and how today’s civil rights leaders are
looking to leaders of the past
we don’t need these dismissive
generational divisions
because more often than not we’re
working for the same outcomes and goals
one thing that stuck out to us the most
was that when we wanted to share
stories with our new friends they didn’t
give us all the specifics
of what they did or when exactly they
did it but instead
they shared memories with the people in
their lives and the human connections
they made along the way
but just because these connections might
be missing from our lives right now
doesn’t mean they have to be
so if we can lean on each other
and dip into the resources that
different generations have to offer
whether it’s through new perspectives or
wisdom that comes with time
we can recognize intergenerational
interdependence
as an invaluable asset to our society
but more than just encouraging you to go
out there and build generational
relationships
we urge you to actively seek out
intergenerational friendships
no matter which side of the age spectrum
you are on
[Applause]
you