Brad Cook wrote a letter to the judges of his senior project about his work volunteering at Cameron Hall Assisted Living Center. He chose to focus his project on Alzheimer's disease to learn more about how it impacted his great-grandmother. While volunteering at Cameron Hall, Brad helped residents with activities like meals and cleaning. He learned the importance of patience from working with the elderly residents. Though he plans to be a middle school teacher, Brad hopes to continue volunteering with senior citizens after graduation.

1. 1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
March 20, 2012
Judges, Senior Project
Creekview High School
1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
Dear Judges:
Hi, my name is Brad Cook. My future plans are to study Middle Grades Education at Reinhardt
University, and then pursue a job as a middle school teacher, although I am undecided which subject yet.
My Great Grandma and I have always had a very close relationship, and when she was diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s disease in 2009, my life was forever changed. Because of my desire to know more about
the disease and how it was impacting her life, I couldn’t think of a more appropriate topic for my senior
project than Alzheimer’s.
For my senior project I chose to work with the residents of nursing homes and show the senior citizens
that teenagers care about them. I chose to work at Cameron Hall Assisted Living Center for one reason,
and that is because it is the perfect fit. Cameron Hall is local, it has a friendly environment for everyone,
and it also has a Memory Clinic, which was exactly what I needed. While volunteering at Cameron Hall,
I did anything from sitting with the residents to helping serve meals and clean. The sole purpose of my
project was to invest into the lives of the elderly, and although I had many obstacles, such as having
patience and making time to visit, in the end, it all worked out.
Working with the residents at Cameron Hall taught me many life lessons, although the main one was
learning how to have patience with others, whether they are young or old. Considering I want to pursue
a career at teaching, patience had a huge impact on my career choice. Although I have a strong desire for
working with the elderly, I wouldn’t want to actually pursue this as my career, because I enjoy working
with children more. While I will actually be teaching as my main job, I would like nothing more than to
be able to regularly volunteer at a local nursing home in my area, because I will always have a passion
for working with senior citizens.
In finishing this project I have a bittersweet feeling, because I really enjoyed spending time with the
residents of Cameron Hall, but I am also very relieved that I have finally finished my project. After
working with the Senior Citizens so much, I have gained a huge amount of respect and patience for
them, because I now realize that each of them have their own story, and because of that, I have to
respect the way they are.
Sincerely
Bradley Cook