Assignment 4 padlet by

Paula Nichols

pinter4 — 2025-09-22 05:58:58 UTC

64 years old
Lives in Kewanne Illinois
4 children
Nurse

Important Life Events

pinter4 — 2025-09-22 06:08:56 UTC

The first major life event Mrs. Nichols talked about was the day she was married. She married her high school sweetheart, Mike Nichols, and has been married for 43 years. They both still live in the town they grew up in.

The second was the day that she gave birth to her children. She has 4 kids who all graduated from the University of Illinois. Tanner, Tucker, Tyler, Lexi.

Finally the last of the Important life events she mentioned was the day her mother and father died. She never got to say goodbye to her mother because she had cancer, and it progressed exceptionally fast. Her father also died of cancer, but she had much more closure and got to say her goodbyes to him. She said these were the saddest days of her life.

Best Story

pinter4 — 2025-09-22 06:15:42 UTC

The first story that came to mind for Mrs. Nichols was Christmas with her family every year. She says she loves Christmas, especially as a kid, because of presents, of course, but also because all of her family would come over every Christmas morning. She had family that lived in Chicago at the time and did not get to see them often, so when they would come over it was always a treat. She and her cousins would play with their new Christmas toys for hours together. She said some years they would stay the night and that in the middle of the night they would go and sneak some of the dessert from Christmas dinner. Every year she looks forward to Christmas because even now her family still comes over to her house and she gets to see her grandkids.

Life Lessons / Advice

pinter4 — 2025-09-22 06:25:53 UTC

Mrs. Nichols gave me plenty of advice on life, but she stressed 2 to me. The first one was that life is short. The way she explained it was that Life is too short to care what others think about you. You will find the people who make you feel like yourself and stick with them. Life is too short to feel embarrassed, so take every opportunity you can. You never know what tomorrow will bring, so enjoy the present, love the ones who care about you, and never feel sorry for being you.

The next piece of advice she gave me was to travel. This world is a wonderful and beautiful place, and seeing it should be a priority. She said immersing yourself in other culture really opens your mind to new things. She said when raising her kids she sacrificed a nicer car or a bigger house to go and travel the world with her family. You remember the times on vacation with your family more than the second story of a house. Her favorite place they ever went was to Switzerland because it had the most beautiful mountain ranges.

Culture Change

pinter4 — 2025-09-22 06:32:16 UTC

When I asked Mrs. Nichols what the biggest culture change she saw throughout her life, and she said it was social media and iPhones. Growing up these things never existed. If she wanted to go hang out with one of her friends, she would have to go over to their house and knock on their door, texting wasn't a thing. I asked her if she was on any social media and she said she was on Facebook, but really only to see pictures of her children and grandchildren. I asked her if she thought the change was a good thing or a bad thing, and she said both. Her opinion is that phones have made the younger generation less social than her generation. However, she does see how much technology does for this world and wants it to continue even further.

How Society Has Shaped the Ageing Process

pinter4 — 2025-09-22 06:39:00 UTC

When I asked her if society has influenced the ageing process, the first thing she said was beauty. She said that the beauty standard for women is to look younger. Showing signs of ageing is seen as unattractive and not beautiful. She said she feels awful for the young girls out there who feel they are not enough for someone else. I asked her about plastic surgery and she said that I think if it makes you feel more confident about yourself, you should go for it, but doing it so that another person will like you makes her feel awful.

Favorite Song

pinter4 — 2025-09-22 06:44:11 UTC

Her favorite song is The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra. She has been the biggest Frank Sinatra fan forever. I asked her if the song had a special meaning to her, and she said, of course. This was the song that was played during the first dance of the husband and wife during her wedding. She thinks about that magical day every time this song comes on.

On the news

pinter4 — 2025-09-22 06:51:55 UTC

I asked Mrs. Nichols if there is a historical event that has stuck with her. She instantly said September 11. 2001. She said at the time she was working for Discovery card and was working in Chicago. When the towers were struck she was stunned. She was at work and saw on the news what was happening. She said the office was silent, and then all the emotions came rushing in. At the time Discovery card had a sister location there at the trade center, so everyone at her location was making calls. They were trying to reach the families of those who worked at the NYC location asking if they had seen them. The phones were not working and the ones that did go through, the families had not seen their loved one. It was such an emotional time that she will never forget.