I began attending OLLI at UNLV classes right after moving here in 2015. We moved here to be closer to our daughter and her family in LA and to get away from the snow in Michigan—our long-time home state.
A friend of my wife’s has lived here for over 50 years and has been attending OLLI for many of them and mentioned the OLLI program to my wife. We were immediately interested, as this would give us a chance to meet people and learn at the same time.
I am especially interested in the world we live in and OLLI always has programs that provide a better understanding of the planet—from Astronomy to History to Politics and Travel.
I assist in many of the classes and have helped organize off site events—such as visiting the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Center near Barstow—where we had to get special government permission to enter Fort Irwin facility to see the many large communication dishes that communicate with distance satellites and visiting the CSN Planetarium and organizing Lunch And Learn programs for the Cambridge, UK summer OLLI program which we attended twice to escape the exceedingly hot Las Vegas summers.
I especially enjoy the classes at OLLI that focus on current events as they give me a chance to hear many differing points of view in a non-threatening situation.
My 40 plus years in the US Automotive Industry has given me the chance to live overseas (Germany, Belgium, Japan and the Middle East) and travel extensively (having visited every continent except Antarctica—where there currently is no market for individual autos) and I am able to bring those experiences to the classes that
I have been fortunate to take.
When moving, the availability of an OLLI program nearby will always be an item I am concerned about, and will make sure that I can continue my OLLI support in the neighborhood!