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Kingsborough’s: "My Turn" Program
Seniors Get 2nd Chance For A Degree By Shanaro Rowlins Imagine yourself 60 years old. You’ re a retiree, and you realize that you don’t have enough activities to keep you busy. You find yourself feeling less useful, so you become stressed and frustrated or even less wanted. Twenty years ago Kingsborough Community College came up with a solution to keep older adults up and about, and back to interacting with younger people and socializing with other adults: the My Turn Program. Dr. Barbara Ginsberg is the founder of the only My Turn program in New York City. She created the program in 1981 to help adults over 60 go back to school and get a degree if they desired. Ginsberg, a professor in Physical Edu-cation and Sports Fitness also wanted a program that would keep the seniors active and their minds stimulated. The program is very easy to join, as it requires no particular educational background. Because the state pays the tuition for every My Turn student, there is only a registration fee. Seventy students were beneficiaries of the program when it began in 1981. Now, more than 2,000 Students participate in the program every year. Even though the program has excellent attendance numbers, it does have its flaws. "We only get classes that are left over," says Ana Maria Fontanez (64), a student enrolled in the program. The program allows "My Turn" students to pick classes that are left over after students who are on financial aid or who pay up front choose first. The "My Turn" program has activities that keep its students involved on campus. They hold four meetings every semester where special guests come to talk about politics, the economy, history, and many more themes of interest. The last meeting is a party, where every-one gets together to eat, drink and reflect on the success and failure of the semester. "We also have trips, fundraisers and discussion groups," says Dr. Ginsberg. "In our discussions we talk about timely documents, politics and several mentoring programs. The program also has a "My Turn" newsletter, in which ideas and stories are discussed." "My Turn" has done well during the past years. It has attracted many members and helped older adults find more meaningful activities to do. "I think older adults in college is a good idea, because younger students look up to them," says Ronald Rivera, a second year student at the college. "Everyone benefits from the program. "My Turn" students are good role mo-dels to the younger students," says Dr. Ginsberg.
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