Nathan is a North Country native who started teaching at the Senior Planet Center in North Country this year after working as a public speaking coach and consultant.

We caught up with this coffee aficionado about the highlights of his time at Senior Planet so far and bringing cat memes into the classroom.  

 What do you teach at Senior Planet? 

I teach at the Center – I’m grateful to be in-person. I teach our basic courses and my favorites are the “Getting Started” workshops that cover various important apps to know like Zoom or the design platform Canva. (Visit here for single class information in the North Country; for a list of multi-week, in-person classes  visit here.)   

I try to make my classes fun and funny. For instance, I like to incorporate cat memes into the lessons. 

 Example cat meme: 

“Hope this email finds you well”

How the email found me:”

What is your favorite part of the job? 

I love being able to facilitate great connections between people. You have participants getting involved in each other’s lives because of these classes. The connection aspect makes the job meaningful. 

“Aging with attitude means instead of getting beat up as you age, you become more upbeat.” 

 What do you enjoy to do outside of work? 

I really love coffee and coffeeshops – I love to try different types of coffee and experiment making my own roasts – a light Brazilian roast is my favorite. 

 I also love going to stand-up comedy events. Once in a blue moon I’ll even do a stand-up set at an open mic myself.  

What does aging with attitude mean to you? 

One of the participants put it well to me – he said “aging with attitude means instead of getting beat up as you age, you become more upbeat.” I believe that aging with attitude is an approach to life that keeps you enthusiastic about all the new life experiences that are yet to come.

YOUR TURN

Do you have a favorite trainer? Let us know in the comments!

Pam Hugi is Senior Planet’s Community and Advocacy Manager. Based in Brooklyn, she is a contributing writer for this site.