Across Generations, Over Coffee: My Experience with SDSU CEAL’s Intergenerational Coffee Club
By Cat Jackson, SDSU CEAL Graduate Assistant
As someone in my 20s, I do not always have many opportunities to sit down and have meaningful conversations with people from older generations. My internship with the SDSU Center for Excellence in Aging & Longevity (CEAL) gave me that opportunity through the Intergenerational Coffee Club. What may seem like a simple gathering over coffee became one of the most meaningful parts of my internship because it allowed me to connect with older adults, listen to their experiences, and better understand the value of intergenerational relationships.
When I first became involved with the Intergenerational Coffee Club, I was excited but also curious about what conversations between different generations would look like. My everyday life is often surrounded by people who are at a similar stage of life: students, coworkers, friends, and other young adults who are thinking about careers, relationships, school, and what comes next. The Coffee Club created a completely different environment. I was able to talk with people who had already experienced many of the things that my generation is only beginning to navigate.
One of my favorite parts of the Coffee Club was realizing how naturally conversations could develop despite differences in age. We could talk about our experiences, interests, families, careers, changes in society, and even the little things happening in our everyday lives. Sometimes our perspectives were different, but those differences made the conversations more interesting. I learned that intergenerational connection is not about pretending that age differences do not exist. Instead, it is about being curious about those differences and recognizing how much we can learn from one another.
Listening to older adults share their stories also encouraged me to think differently about aging. As a young person, aging can feel very distant. Society also tends to portray younger and older generations as if they have little in common. My experience with CEAL challenged that idea. I began to see aging less as something separate from my own life and more as a lifelong process that connects all of us. The people I met had unique personalities, goals, humor, opinions, memories, and experiences. Age was part of their stories, but it did not define everything about who they were.
At the same time, being one of the younger participants reminded me that intergenerational learning goes both ways. I came into the experience expecting that I would learn from older adults, and I certainly did, but I also realized that younger adults have experiences and perspectives worth sharing. We have grown up with different technologies, social expectations, challenges, and ways of communicating. Sharing those perspectives created an exchange rather than a one-sided learning experience. There was something special about knowing that everyone at the table had something to contribute.
My role as an intern added another layer to the experience. I was not only participating in conversations; I was also able to observe how programs like the Intergenerational Coffee Club can create spaces where people feel welcomed, heard, and connected. It showed me that building community does not always require something complicated. Sometimes it starts with providing a comfortable space, a cup of coffee, and an opportunity for people who might not normally meet to talk to each other.
The experience also helped me grow personally. It encouraged me to become a better listener, ask more thoughtful questions, and be more open to perspectives shaped by lives very different from my own. I learned that meaningful conversations do not necessarily depend on having the same background or being at the same stage of life. In fact, some of the most valuable conversations can happen when we bring different experiences to the table.
Looking back on my time with the SDSU CEAL Intergenerational Coffee Club, I am grateful that my internship gave me an opportunity to experience intergenerational connection firsthand. I entered as an intern in my 20s, but I came away with a greater appreciation for older adults, aging, community, and the importance of creating spaces where generations can connect. Most importantly, the Coffee Club reminded me that we have more in common across generations than we sometimes assume. There is so much we can learn when we make the time to sit down, listen, share our stories, and enjoy a cup of coffee together.
