Mallory Shaner ’18 (back, right) spent the summer interning for Jack Kupferman ’77 (back, left) and the Gray Panthers, alongside Florence Shen ’18 (front, right) and other college students.
Editor’s note: In this series, Colgate students share stories about their summer experiences in offices, labs, and open spaces across the world.
Working this summer as an intern for the Gray Panthers, an organization dedicated to achieving justice and peace for aging populations, has been incredibly rewarding. I have met many fascinating and hardworking people who fight for things most people don’t realize are happening.
My first project was to research nursing home grievance processes in other states and the audits that have been done on nursing homes. Of the 49 state auditors to whom I sent my request, more than 30 replied; however, many of them had not done audits of nursing homes, and if they had, they weren’t current.
I was most surprised by the reactions we got from the states. So many of them had not even realized how much of an issue nursing home grievance processes are. I wrote a report, which volunteers from Gray Panthers are going to take to the New York State auditor’s office to encourage action.
Another large component of my internship was helping volunteers from the U.N. Committee on Ageing conduct mission visits with the permanent missions to the United Nations. Along with various members of the committee, I visited with representatives from Luxembourg, Malawi, Ireland, Laos, and Australia.
The experiences I had at each mission proved to be instrumental during the Sixth Session of the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing, when I got to see the results of each mission visit. At the working group I also got to hear the voices of several non-governmental organizations on aging, from Age UK to Help Age International. It was amazing to see the passion and dedication of the representatives.
My experience this summer was unexpected and unforgettable. Not only did I improve my practical skills with research and surveying, but I also gained real-life experiences meeting people and interacting with diplomats from all over the world.