The Human Connection 

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The emotional satisfaction with the elderly residents is quieter, but it runs deeper. When I started at the Shanghai Yangpu Social Welfare Institute, I thought my job was to deliver a technology class. I quickly learned the classes were secondary. The primary value was the weekly visit, the routine, the feeling of being seen and heard.

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Leading those weekly tech presentations for over 60 residents wasn't about the technology; it was about breaking the loneliness cycle. It was about a smile, a handshake, and the feeling that a younger person valued their time. As a Project Manager, when I saw the new volunteers I had trained in elder care and emergency procedures connecting with residents—that was a double shot of happiness. I wasn’t just helping 60 residents; I was enabling 17 new volunteers to help, creating a sustainable chain of kindness. That’s the feeling that sticks with you long after you’ve left the building. It’s a powerful, grounding feeling of being genuinely useful to others.

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The Unexpected Education: I Learned More Than My Students

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This is the biggest secret of volunteering: I’ve learned so much more than my students or the elderly residents have gained from me. Seriously. My official roles were "Science Tutor" and "Project Manager," but the real education was in life, people, and resilience.

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Learning from the Kids 

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With the elementary-aged children, I learned about pure, unadulterated creativity and how to bounce back from failure. In robotics, things always go wrong. The robot tips over, the code has a bug, the motor won't turn. The kids would cry for exactly 15 seconds, then jump right back in with a new idea. That level of resilience is something I now try to bring to my own toughest professional challenges.

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I designed and delivered a curriculum, but they taught me more about foundational STEM concepts than I taught them. When you have to simplify a complex concept like gear ratios or loop coding for a seven-year-old, you realize how well you actually understand it. Their questions were sharper, weirder, and more insightful than any textbook. They forced me to think differently, which made me a better tutor and a more effective member of the Shanghai Gongkang Middle School Program Organizing Committee when planning those huge STEM events for over 200 students.

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Learning from the Seniors 

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The lessons from the residents at the Shanghai Yangpu Social Welfare Institute were wisdom, patience, and perspective. The world has changed so rapidly, and yet, they maintain such grace. In those weekly technology classes, I had to learn how to slow down and communicate in a way that respects an entire lifetime of experience.

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• I learned patience—not just the kind you need when someone is struggling to tap a small button on a screen, but the profound patience needed to listen to a story that takes 15 minutes to tell, knowing that the story is the entire point.

• I learned emergency medical procedures, yes, but I also learned the true meaning of care and dignity in the face of frailty.

• As a Project Manager recruiting and training 17 new volunteers, I learned about leadership and delegation in a high-stakes, deeply human environment. It's one thing to manage a software project; it's another to manage people who are giving their hearts to care for the vulnerable. It taught me how to train, empower, and trust people completely.

 

Every single week was a masterclass in history, survival, and finding joy in the small, simple things. The older adults, who had been served by this institute providing low-cost care, provided an unexpected education in humility.