A Creative Collaboration
February 19, 2016
By Emma Alexander, Honors Communications Intern
The Honors College is very fortunate to have Melissa Fraterrigo as one of two Innovators in Residence on campus. This semester, Melissa is teaching a class entitled, “Writing Your Childhood Story.” Reading the course syllabus, it is evident that the purpose of the class is to not only improve upon the writing skills of enrolled students, but to guide them in creating stories from their own experiences and memories as children.
As a part of this course, students were given a rather unique assignment entitled “Intergenerational Narrative Project.” For the project, each student was paired with a resident of Friendship House, a housing facility in West Lafayette which caters to the needs of the elderly. All of the students traveled to Friendship House and conducted interviews of the residents with whom they had been paired. The goal was for students to use the tools they had learned in the class to articulate a vision of the elderly individual’s childhood. Students were even encouraged to research the time period in which the residents would have been children in order to determine valuable questions and aid them in eliciting an open dialogue during the interview.
Purdue students left to right: Ceira Ostberg, Megan Brown, Megan Ley, Mary Mulligan, Sophia Bergmann, Casie Blair. Painting by Arvilla Frair.
In reflecting on the project as well as the class as a whole, Melissa shares,
When I was asked to be an Innovator in Residence, I was most excited about the notion of helping students engage the local community through writing. This project with Friendship House provides just that. Not only are students helping these elderly residents share their stories, but the Purdue Honors students are involved in a creative collaboration that benefits our community at large.
One of the class participants, Megan Ley, also reflected on her experience with this project.
I'm excited to see the final outcomes for everyone, as it is very special to be able to hear and learn about history through actual people and not just words in a textbook. I think this [project] has been one of my most memorable and special experiences while at Purdue. I am in a very technical major, and we spend a lot of time analyzing data. This course has given me the opportunity to gain some valuable life skills as well as the opportunity to meet and interact with someone I wouldn't have otherwise.
The class traveled to Friendship House twice to conduct both interviews and follow up interviews. However, students later returned to share excerpts of the pieces they had wrote with the residents of Friendship House.
Melissa, who was in attendance when these excerpts were shared, says,
You should have seen the residents' faces as their stories were told. I truly believe that stories are a way for us to care for one another, and there is no doubt that those residents felt both honored and cared for by the interest the Purdue students had for their childhood stories.
This project will certainly have a lasting effect on all parties involved. Student Ceira Ostberg is just one participant already experiencing these effects. She discloses what she has taken away from this project,
After [the project], I feel extremely motivated to have similar talks with my grandparents and parents so that I can learn the more intimate details of their life stories. The conversations we had also reminded me that everything is temporary--don't take life for granted and don't think that you're going to be stuck in a rut forever. Good things have their time and place, so enjoy them while you can. Overall, this project was inspiring and I'm extremely thankful for this opportunity. I really hope that I'll be able to return to talk to the residents soon.
What a joy it is not only to witness Purdue Honors students having a positive impact in the lives of others in the community, but to learn of the excitement, satisfaction, and reflection which has arisen as a result.
Distant memories can sometimes be difficult to consider, but the Intergenerational Narrative project allowed both students and residents to connect and reflect on these moments together. We learn about ourselves and each other from the stories we tell one another, and I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this collaboration.
-Melissa Fraterrigo
