agewell_summer_fall_2019_compressed

OLLI at California State
University Long Beach
By: Josef Babia, Davis Stewart & Hunter Rhode
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI)
at California State University Long Beach
offers generous support to provide quality
educational opportunities throughout a
lifespan. OLLI is located in the College of
Health and Human Services and is operated
by volunteers. Classes are held Monday
through Saturday from 8:00AM to 5:00PM
and typically meet one day a week. OLLI
offers 80-95 different courses of interest to
persons 50 years of age or older. Rebecca Low,
an office administrator at OLLI, states:
“We hope to provide educational
opportunities for seniors as well as socializing.
They get to come and meet other people, chat,
and get out of the house—all while learning.
There are activity classes such as Tai Chi,
yoga on a chair, or longevity stick. We have
jewelry making, painting, watercolor and art.
Our biggest growth has been in music so we
started out with a choir and now we have a
ukulele class and even offer guitar lessons.
We also have jam sessions where individuals
get together and play good old sixties songs.
Classes also cover topics such as Shakespeare
and even astronomy. We have upcoming
classes such finance and because every teacher
is a volunteer, the possibilities of any class
are endless. If a volunteer comes in and says
they want to teach crochet, then we will try
and open a crochet class. Anybody who has a
passion and wants to teach can simply sign up
18 | AgeWell Long Beach | Summer/Fall 2019
— it can’t get any easier than that.”
Education is an important part of life and we
believe any person, regardless of age, should
have equal opportunities to learn new things
and ideas. Why is continued education and
learning so important in old age? Lifelong
learning and continued education can help
older adults maintain relevance in society by
keeping up with both educational material
and physical activities. The goal is to maintain
the quality of their lives. Healthy practices
include enhancing their self-reliance, selfsufficiency,
and coping strategies in the areas
of physical, health, and social relationships.
Learning in later life may include individual
reflection and life review that takes place in an
unstructured and spasmodic way, but which
may lead to greater self-understanding and
individual insight.
OLLI is an important part of the Long Beach
community as it opens a door for older
adults and gives them endless amounts of
opportunity for learning and growth. Studies
show that older adults benefit from learning
new things. It is therefore imperative to seek
to prolong the lives of the adult population
through various types of education to enable
them to cope with retirement and the aging
process. Aging education should be made
available to all citizens to increase awareness
and respect for the older adults in our society.