AARP Intern's take on Disrupt Aging and the Millennial Generation

At 21 years of age, I feel as though I am in the prime of my life. I’m almost done with my college education, I’m a tech-savvy millennial in a digital world and well into my summer internship.

However, I’m often told that it’s “all downhill after 21”, and that once I get older and enter the “real world” that my best years will be behind me. I was told that I would no longer enjoy my birthday. For a long time I believed this to be true. I wanted to get everything I could out of high school and college because I feared that I would never be able to have that much fun again.

That all changed when I started working for AARP this spring.

Soon after beginning my internship at AARP, I watched a video asking millennials what age they consider to be “old” and how they view people aged 50 or older. To their surprise, they met some “old” people who could do some things that even they couldn’t do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYdNjrUs4NM[/youtube]

AARP’s idea of Disrupt Aging is a mindset that we can all adapt and use to challenge the negative connotations of aging. It’s changing the way we view getting older for those that are part of the older generations. But it also speaks loudly to me and people my age. The way we perceive aging may not be what the reality actually is. With aging comes opportunity, wisdom and understanding.

In the three months that I have been interning for AARP Ohio, I have been exposed to a whole new attitude about the concept of aging. I’ve met countless volunteers ranging several different ages, most of whom were 60 and above. These people have ambition, they have passion, and they have the drive to break the stereotype of aging that consumes younger generations, including my own. Volunteer State President Mike Barnhart, in his seventies, is a tremendous leader, great communicator and always available to talk to staff, volunteers or anyone who wants to discuss what AARP is all about.

I’ve been lucky enough to have grandparents who are still very active, whether it’s going to fairs and festivals or traveling around the country, so it wasn’t hard for me to believe that there is life beyond 50. But that is not the case for others my age. They don’t see things like 100-year-old Ella Mae Colbert setting a 100 meter dash world record, and that’s why AARP is trying to show them these incredible people.

I’m positive that the time I end up spending at AARP is going to leave me with a new outlook on aging. Instead of dreading each birthday or milestone, I’ll celebrate it and then ask myself, “What should I do next?” The sky really is the limit when you stop defining yourself by your age and start defining yourself by your past experiences and future actions.

I plan on being just as content with my life at age 70 as I am at 21. Even though everyone ages, they don’t have to get “old”.