This past weekend two generations came together to celebrate their newfound bond formed by Dr. Mary Jackman’s Rhetoric II “Youth and Age” class.

A party was put together in The Varsity on Saturday afternoon by Jackman to culminate the semester-long project, which had students from her class interview and record the memoirs of residents at the Walnut Place and Juliette Fowler assisted living communities to pass them along to their families. Pairs of students from the class were matched with two residents from a home and met with each other every Tuesday during the past few months.

Students and residents alike wore balloons on their heads and exchanged gift bags while others expressed thanks on stage for the sharing of these life stories.

“I just want to thank everyone here,” Jackman said of her students.

“I think this is the best class in the five years I’ve done this class – not a single whiner, not a single slacker.”

She also appreciates the efforts of this semester’s residents explaining that, “they really put a face on to the history that students look at in the textbooks, and the reward is the interaction with a generation students might never have had the chance to meet.”

Whether it was nuggets of advice or tales of getting to dance with Elvis Presley in the flesh during a performance in Holland years ago, the students soaked it all up.

Freshman Jamal Stephens said, “The time that I spent with my resident not only gave me insight to what their personal life was about, but also a first person’s point of view of some world history.

“For example, both of my residents in their recordings discussed what they were actually doing in World War II.” Stephens continued, “The greatest blessing I received as a result of the life stories project was that I made a really close friend who I have developed such love and care for. Our residents embraced my partner and I as their own flesh and blood as we have made them a part of our lives.”

The Service-Learning course was recognized by the Professional American Story Keepers organization for preserving the “personal libraries” of its participants.

Jackman’s “Youth and Age” English 1302 class focuses on autobiographical chronicles from writers including Amy Tan and Mitch Albom.

She believes part of her mission here at SMU is to “make sense of our academic experience by connecting it to our lived experience through personal narratives.”