I remember clipping people’s nails, alerting CNAs that someone’s diaper needed to be changed, and serving puréed lunches every Sunday afternoon. This was definitely not Corporate America.

What I did:

My first job was at a convalescent and rehabilitation care center as an Activities Coordinator Assistant. For two years, I’d spend four hours every Sunday spending time with residents at the home. Each week, I’d arrive at 9 AM and start escorting residents to the Activities Room where breakfast would be served (I eventually memorized what each resident liked in his or her coffee- milk, sugar, milk and sugar, or black). Then, I’d pull out a large binder of different fun facts and trivia games and lead discussions on interesting events that happened decades ago. I never knew the references being made, but the residents were always excited to shout out answers. Afterwards, I’d lead a game of bingo and then escort residents to their respective dining rooms for lunch: one room was for more independent residents who were able to eat on their own and the other was for residents who often needed assistance. Because of my age, I was always in charge of the room with residents who were able to eat more independently. And, after I finished cleaning their trays, I’d spend the last 30 minutes of my day doing room visits, playing the piano for residents in the lobby, or taking residents out for a walk and finally leave at 1 PM.

What I learned:

I’ve learned some of the most important soft skills (read: ways of interacting with people) through my experiences at a nursing home. First off, there aren’t many jobs where you can be told exactly what you’re doing wrong each time you mess up. This is a very scary thing to get used to. Remembering the nuances of each resident’s personality was really hard, but it definitely paid off in the long run. Knowing which resident liked his or her prepared a specific way, seating certain residents next to each other during activities (yes, budding romances still exist at this age), and asking residents to retell their favorite stories when they were having a bad day forced me to pay attention to minutely small details that I otherwise would have ignored. Yet, in spite of becoming more aware of my surroundings and more detail-oriented, the most important lesson I learned was how to treat others with respect, compassion, and dignity. On multiple occasions, I’d hear complaints about how CNAs were treating residents like kids and how residents didn’t believe that anyone took the time to get to know them. Because I knew exactly what residents didn’t like, I knew what not to do and at times overcompensated by going out of my way to ensure that each resident felt at home.

Why you should do this too:

In my two years working there, I had 4 supervisors. These kinds of jobs are tough and require you to be engaged and attentive at all times. Here’s my two-sentence plug for why you should do this too: If you’re up for the challenge, I would strongly suggest volunteering with the 65+ population. You may think that you don’t have time (who’s on a more limited time frame here?), but the joy you’d bring to residents by simply being there would mean the world to them.