"I've always enjoyed being around older
people," says
Jade Woodruffe. "I've been told that I have a natural connection
with seniors, much more so than most people my age."
It wasn't
until she took a year off from studying business at York University,
and began volunteering at a nursing home that Jade realized
her easy rapport with seniors pointed to a career path
she would truly enjoy.
"I started to explore working with seniors, and when I went
to the information session for the Activation Co-ordinator/Gerontology
program at GBC, it made up my mind," she says.
After enrolling in
the program, Jade made the most of all the resources that
were available.
"The teachers were really knowledgeable about the physical
and mental effects of aging, and how to communicate respectfully
and professionally with seniors," she says. "The facilities
were top-of-the-line, and the field placements immersed us in a variety
of eldercare environments
right off the bat."
After graduation, one of Jade's field placement locations, The
Don Mills Foundation, hired her on full-time as a program
assistant. The Don
Mills Foundation is a community service agency that offers
a variety of different programs for seniors.
"We have a senior adult centre called E.P. Taylor Place
that provides a social activity ground for clients 55 and
over, we have an outreach component there as well that
provides meals and transportation
for seniors who are less mobile, and we also have Thompson
House, a long-term care facility," explains Jade. "Someone
who took the Activation Co-ordinator program at GBC could
work in any of those
three modes."
Jade was recently promoted to the position of Program
Co-ordinator at E.P. Taylor Place, where her job will be
to organize and manage all existing programs and services,
as well as develop new ones.
Given
how large and affluent the baby
boomer population is, a career in gerontology offers many employment opportunities;
it's really just a matter of where you want to be in the field.
"Someday I'm thinking about getting a job shaping senior policy
in the government," she
says. "There are going to be lots of new challenges with so many people
entering retirement age at the same time, and I like the idea of blending my
business background and my gerontology background so I can work to improve
seniors' lives on a large scale."
Read more stories from George Brown
Graduates...
To learn more, visit the George
Brown College Alumni page.
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