Intellectual stimulation steps away for Monarch Landing residents

By Meghan Streit
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Just as you exercise your body by moving it in new and challenging ways, it’s important to exercise your mind by using it to learn something new.

Maybe it’s understanding how to use a computer so you can send e-mail to your grandchildren, or maybe it’s learning to speak Italian for an upcoming vacation. The key is simply to stimulate your mind with new information and intellectual challenges.

“Keeping your mind active is probably the most important thing you can do if you’re talking about staying young and healthy,” says Margaret Hamilton, manager of the Older Adult Institute at the College of DuPage.

Go ‘back to school’
The institute promotes lifelong learning and offers older adults discounted rates on a variety of courses—Immigrant America and Multiculturalism, Modern Architectural and Engineering Marvels, and Generation of Jazz.

The classes are geared toward people aged 55 or better and taught by certified College of DuPage instructors. Since the typical students bring more life experience and wisdom to class, Hamilton says lively discussions are common.

“It’s such fun that one instructor came to me and said, ‘I’ve been teaching all of my life, and I’ve never had so much fun,’” Hamilton says.

For people looking for a nontraditional learning experience, the institute also offers classes such as ballroom dancing, memoir writing, and tai chi. Hamilton says one of the most popular classes, See and Symphony, takes participants on biweekly cultural excursions in Chicago. Participants might go to the ballet one week and the Art Institute the next, and each session ends with lunch and discussion.

Easy access to classes
Monarch Landing is one of the institute’s off-campus class locations, so residents can take advantage of continuous learning opportunities just down the hall from their new apartment homes.