Monday, July 25, 2016

Meet Sydney Franklin

From kindergarten to eighth grade, I was a giddy little Texas girl every time the last school bell sounded at the end of each school year. It meant two things: 1) school was out and 2) I was heading east to spend two months with my grandparents. 

Before my sister and I got to high school, and our schedules became demanding year-round, we visited our grandparents in a small town out in East Texas.

My grandmother taught my sister and me how to braid and sew; and thanks to my grandfather, I could manage money and drive a tractor better than any other 10-year-old I knew.

My grandparents still live on the same 20 acres, happily growing fruits and vegetables, raising horses, playing scrabble, and mentoring young boys in the community to their hearts’ content.

My intergenerational relationship with my grandparents is what makes this summer internship with Generations United exciting.

As a Junior majoring in Sociology at Westminster College in Fulton, MO, I love studying people and their life experiences; where they come from, what their intended destination is, how we all interact and how we can work together for a common goal.

For three decades, Generations United has been the catalyst for policies and practices stimulating cooperation and collaboration among generations, evoking the vibrancy, energy and sheer  productivity that result when people of all ages come together.

As a summer intern, I look forward to working on the Online Resource Guide, 2016 State of Grandfamilies Report and the Intergenerational Program Database.

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