Photo: Centre for Ageing | Unsplash
Retirement communities are popping up on many college campuses across the U.S. Living on a college campus allows senior citizens to attend classes, concerts, theater, sports events, but more importantly, plenty of opportunities to interact with young adults. These activities and social interactions can help ward off loneliness and boost well-being among seniors. "It's great being in the classroom, and wonderful also that we have college students in the dining rooms. I can mother them all, and they help me," says Shelley Malinoff, 74, a retired audiologist who lives at Mirabella at ASU, a retirement community located on the Arizona State University at Tempe campus. Residents at Mirabella contribute a lot to the university community; their involvement ranges from mentoring college students and serving as adjunct faculty to collaborating on research projects to working as campus volunteers. Integrating older citizens into college communities also benefits young people, including those who need mentorship and deeper connections with older adults. It can also challenge prevailing stereotypes about aging and older citizens. "A lot of younger people have a pre-notion of old age, and certain stereotypes that old people are boring and inactive, but that is totally not the case," says Michelle Kim, a doctoral student at ASU who moved into Mirabella as part of a Musicians in Residence Program. "I have had some of my greatest times with the residents, going out to dinner, watching shows, playing sports together and making music together. Hopefully, my experience can [help] break the preconception that younger people have about older generations."
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