Photo: Home Connect learner Socorro Galvez practices on her guitar, thanks to her new tablet, YouTube, and Zoom.
Many of us are fortunate enough to have learned to play a musical instrument as a child and have enjoyed perfecting our skills over a lifetime. Others learned to play but, to their regret, let those skills deteriorate. A much smaller group, including today’s older adult learner, have made a commitment to fulfill a lifelong dream by learning to play a musical instrument.
Socorro Galvez, originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, met and married her husband when she was 17. They moved to the San Francisco area nearly 50 years ago! Socorro dedicated her life to her family as housewife and mother to her two children, a task made more difficult when her 9-year-old son was hit by a car. He required a two-year hospitalization, enjoyed a full recovery, and has since made Socorro a grandmother!
Socorro had started to learn to play the guitar through a program offered at the Mission Neighborhood Center when the pandemic struck. Center staff member Johana Matthews told Socorro about CTN’s new Home Connect program. Having no technology skills but eager to learn and thankful for the opportunity, Socorro applied and was accepted into the program.
Maria Vazquez was the CTN staff instructor who guided Socorro through the first five introductory lessons. Socorro quickly embraced both YouTube and Zoom. She discovered that YouTube could help her tune her guitar, use the guitar tablature, and then put it all together to play music! She also participates in guitar sessions provided by Mission Neighborhood Center on Zoom! She is no longer bored and isolated as she also watches old Spanish-language movies on YouTube and, of course, everything she can find related to the guitar.
Socorro has not yet had a digital coach assigned to her, but her name is on the wait list as CTN works to expand our ranks of bilingual volunteer digital coaches. If you are interested in helping make a difference in the life of an isolated older adult, please check out how to become a digital coach. While everyone is welcome, we have a backlog of Spanish- and Chinese-speaking older adults waiting for their match.
Comments are closed.