Fall 2021 OLLI Catalog

4 OSHER LIFELONG LEARNING INSTITUTE @ CSUDH
Butterfies and Firefies:
A Beautiful Adventure
A Message from OLLI Program Coordinator
Nicole Pacada
It might sound trite to begin by stating,
“a funny thing happened to me on my way
to graduation,” but it is true. Before I get to
my comedy of events, I must share a little background about my beautiful
adventure as a student of the CSUDH Negotiation and Confict Resolution
Master’s Program (NCRP), and my work with the Osher Lifelong Learning
Institute (OLLI) at CSUDH.
In January 2020, while serving as OLLI Student Assistant, an opportunity
presented itself when the Dean and Associate Dean of Extended and
International Education asked if I would act as the Interim Program
Coordinator of OLLI. I said yes, and I remember the feeling of butterfies
and frefies playing in my stomach. The opportunity thrilled, excited, and
scared me all at once.
The 2020 Spring semester began on an upswing; frst, the robust curriculum
included several planned lectures delivered by CSUDH Faculty; docent-led
tours discovering Southern California—Mission San Juan Capistrano, the
Chen Art Gallery, and the California African American Museum; a group
7-Day excursion to Washington DC scheduled in October, and a host of other
workshops, courses, and social actives. In January, members and guests
packed the 2020 Spring Open House with a record number of attendees,
including the University’s mascot Teddy the Toro and my mother visiting from
Atlanta. In addition to the vigorous programming planned, the partnership
with a CSUDH Faculty’s Communication Video Production class to produce a
Public Service Announcement (PSA) was in the early stages of development.
With six months left to reach our membership and fundraising goals,
optimism about the program’s future was in the atmosphere.
Remember my butterfies and frefies? Little did I know, in March 2020,
they would go skydiving! The global shutdown caused by the COVID-19
virus turned everything upside down. When calling OLLI members to cancel
the Thursday Jazz 101 with Chet Hanley, I had no defnite answers to their
questions other than, “until further notice, all in-person University classes,
courses, events, and activities are canceled.” A vital aspect of OLLI programs
across the US is the in-person social connection, and now we had none.