Hello, my name is Sara Stickley and I am currently a student at CCP in the social and behavioral sciences program. I was born in the 80’s to a middle-class household of suburbia. I grew up in Bucks County, just north of the city and spent a great deal of time in the northeast section of Philadelphia with my grandparents. I never went to kindergarten and was taught all of my pre-primary school education (colors, numbers, letters and how to read) by my great-aunt. My grandmother lived with my family from the time I was 7 years old and my parents divorced when I was eleven. My mother took care of us and my father’s mother (my grandmother who lived with us). My father continued to be a part of my life but in a peripheral way. Additionally both my mother and father were brought up in households that had taken in extended family relations as they aged. Each one of my grandparents has had a great deal of influence on my life and I was brought up to value them and their perspectives. My mother has worked in geriatric long-term care for my entire life, majority in the role of a Director of Nursing. She is also a harp therapist and has continued her education over the years in regard to expand on her knowledge of geriatrics and end of life care. Her positions and my exposure to the environments in which she has worked has given my glimpses of concerns for seniors, their experiences and their challenges. As a teen I volunteered in adult day-care and was an organizer for Aid-for-Friends meal making. The unique presences of and exposure to seniors throughout my life have helped me find my way to the path I currently seek out. I want to work as a geriatric social worker. I want to help seniors continue to have a positive quality of life and if they do not currently, then find ways to improve upon it. Our seniors deserve more than our society gives them. They deserve more credit, more time, more focus and more assistance and I hope to learn how to be a part of helping make that happen.