{"id":107488,"date":"2026-02-05T13:48:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T18:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=107488"},"modified":"2026-02-05T17:48:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T22:48:30","slug":"community-connection-brings-classroom-learning-to-life-for-gerontology-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2026\/02\/community-connection-brings-classroom-learning-to-life-for-gerontology-student\/","title":{"rendered":"Community connection brings classroom learning to life for Gerontology student"},"content":{"rendered":"

Learning hasn’t stopped at the classroom door for Anaiah Asif. For the Brock University Master of Applied Gerontology (MAG)<\/a> student, that career growth has continued during meals, through quiet conversations and while listening to the stories of her new neighbours.<\/p>\n

Asif has spent the past few months living and working alongside older adults in a Niagara Regional Housing (NRH) apartment building after receiving Brock’s Intergenerational Community-Engaged\u00a0Residency<\/a> (ICER)\u00a0Award.<\/p>\n

The \u201conce-in-a-lifetime opportunity\u201d has shaped her personal and professional growth, Asif says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the interactions, no matter how big or small, teach me something,\u201d says Asif. \u201cIt makes me more confident in myself and the work I want to do in the future with older adults.\u201d<\/p>\n

A highlight of the experience has been inviting tenants from the NRH building to visit an Aging and Communication class at Brock.<\/p>\n

The class focused on intergenerational communications, stereotypes around aging and how younger people can better communicate with older adults, with small-group discussions also had to create space for meaningful dialogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t really see the value of it until we hear from those lived experiences \u2014 those older adults who\u2019ve actually been through what we\u2019re reading about,\u201d Asif says.<\/p>\n

For the NRH residents, the experience has affirmed that their knowledge matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne day, they\u2019re going to be in our shoes,\u201d NRH tenant Taza Tusak says of the students. \u201cOlder people have lived through many life experiences.That\u2019s why learning effective communication strategies is so important; it helps us connect and understand each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

The MAG program \u2014 and seeing the strength, humour and intelligence of her NRH neighbours \u2014 has challenged Asif\u2019s perceptions of aging.<\/p>\n

Visiting Hospice Niagara as part of a course on death and dying, for example, expanded her understanding of palliative care.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was where people go to die and lose hope,\u201d she says. \u201cBut palliative care is the opposite and actually where people go to live while they\u2019re dying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asif first learned about the MAG program at a graduate fair after completing a degree in kinesiology at McMaster University.<\/p>\n

At the time, she was struggling to find a career path that aligned with her passion for working with older adults and was drawn to MAG\u2019s coursework, placement opportunities and one-year structure.<\/p>\n

With prior experience volunteering in exercise rehabilitation programs for seniors, cancer survivors, and cardiac and stroke patients, the fit felt natural.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the moment I knew about it, I always had my mind set on it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Balancing graduate coursework with about 30 hours per month of community programming has come with challenges, especially while settling into a new city. Over time, Asif has learned to manage boundaries, time and self-care and has found a sense of belonging.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, she knows one thing for certain: her future lies working with older adults. The experience has sparked a growing interest in medical school and becoming a geriatrician.<\/p>\n

For more information on the MAG program, including Fall 2026 application timelines and details, visit the Brock website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learning hasn’t stopped at the classroom door for Anaiah Asif. For the Brock University Master of Applied Gerontology (MAG) student, that career growth has continued during meals, through quiet conversations and while listening to the stories of her new neighbours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":107497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,9794,7484,13793,3319,188,55,1],"tags":[28,1696,4811,7488,5541,8266,1112,11696],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107488"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107488"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107503,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107488\/revisions\/107503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}