Many people grew up subscribing to the traditional three-stage model of education-work-retirement for mapping out their future. Education is about equipping oneself with knowledge, work is about building a career, advancing professionally, and saving for the future, and retirement is about pursuing rest and leisure. This trajectory has always been a linear way of dividing one’s pursuits into chapters that correlate well with the natural stages of youth, maturity, and old age. At Arizona State University (ASU), however, there is a pioneering community for senior citizens that is creatively reframing retirement as an opportune time to be an active member of the academic ecosystem.
Mirabella at ASU is a university-based retirement facility that promotes active, purposeful aging through intergenerational learning. The community, which currently houses 400 older adults, encourages its residents to go back to school and audit university classes that they are interested in. The center promotes itself as enabling senior citizens to major in “having the time of your life.”
What distinguishes the Mirabella model is that it does not see senior citizens as passive recipients of care. Instead, it recognizes how they can bring their lived experiences into learning spaces. Intergenerational classrooms have been shown to enrich discussions, improve critical thinking, and promote empathy. Young people offer boundless energy and fresh ideas, while the “seasoned” older adults help provide context, judgment, and more tempered perspectives. The result is reciprocal education where everyone learns and connects more meaningfully.
