UI students pair up with the elderly to hear life lessons

While wearing a shirt that reads “still here,” 74-year-old Jo Conroy spoke to four UI students about what matters in life.

As part of a semester long project for a UI aging and leisure study course, she is among a group of around 25 senior citizens were partnered up with around the same amount of UI students to teach them personal experiences and tips about successful aging.

“It's a wonderful exchange,” said UI Instructor David Gould, who said the project is about getting out the message about how to adapt and change with age.

Conroy, of Coralville, - who battled cancer for over 25 years - said life is greatly about liking yourself.

“Even with poor health, life is still worth living,” she said.

69-year-old-Diana Durham told students it's about finding happiness with what you have, and not about always trying to get more.

“Don't get so involved in making a living that your forget to live,” she said

And with age, Durham, of Iowa City, said she has gained confidence and worries less about being wrong.

Many elderly people are grumpy, said 67-year-old Shirley Lindsey of Iowa City, but that's not her style.

“It will rub off on others,” she said.

Lindsey also told the students maintaining quality relationships - with any age person - is something worth doing.

UI senior Paige Sodman from Cedar Rapids said she learned about self-confidence and facing her fears of aging.

“I've learned to appreciate who we are and values what we have,” the 21-year-old said.

For UI senior Zack Ferlong, from Xenia, Ohio, he said relating his own lives to the stories from his elderly acquaintances has been rewarding.

“Everybody has a story. They all have something different to say” he said.

In the final meeting for the project, 77-year-old Louie DeGracia said he hopes to break the stigmatizing myths about elderly people.

“A lot of people are not interested in us,” he said, “We're not just someone to put away in a warehouse.”