Lifelong Learning and Reinvention: Why I Am Still Learning at 91- My Ninth Topic

Recently, I came across an interesting graphic that listed the major topics I frequently write about. Looking at the list, I realized that my writing covers a surprisingly wide range of subjects.

I write about my Filipino-American identity and immigration experience. I write about artificial intelligence and technology, family memories and genealogy, my scientific and FDA career, aging and longevity, Filipino food and culture, travel, and spirituality and social reflection.

Looking at all these topics together made me ask myself a simple question:

What is the common thread connecting all of them?

I believe I have found the answer. I am still learning.

And perhaps more importantly, I am still curious.

A Life of Reinvention

I was born in 1934 in Jaro, Iloilo, Philippines. When I was growing up, I could not have imagined the life that eventually unfolded before me.

As a young man, I dreamed of seeing America. That dream became reality in 1960 when I immigrated to the United States.

But coming to America was only the beginning.

I studied, earned my Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, worked in the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries, and eventually spent many years at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a chemistry reviewer and team leader.

Each stage of my life required me to learn something new.

Science was changing. Technology was changing. America was changing.

And I had to change with it. Looking back, I realize that I have reinvented myself many times throughout my life.

From Chemistry to Computers-and Now Artificial Intelligence

There was a time when my world revolved around chemistry.

Laboratory notebooks, scientific papers, analytical methods, pharmaceutical products and regulatory reviews were part of my professional life.

Later, computers changed the way we worked.

Then came the Internet. Then smartphones.

And now we are living through another extraordinary transformation—the age of artificial intelligence.

I did not expect that AI would become such an important part of my life in my 90s.

But it has. Since I began using ChatGPT and other AI writing assistants, I have discovered that technology can become a partner in lifelong learning.

AI helps me organize my thoughts, improve my grammar, explore subjects I want to understand, compare books, research ideas, and sometimes challenge me to think differently.

But there is something important I have learned:

AI does not replace my memories or my experiences.

Those belong to me. I provide the stories. I provide the questions.

I provide the memories. AI helps me find better ways to express them.

That distinction is very important.

Why I Continue to Write

I started blogging in 2009. At that time, I certainly did not imagine that I would still be writing regularly many years later.

Today, writing has become one of the ways I continue to participate in the world.

I write about my childhood in the Philippines. I write about immigration and the Filipino-American experience.

I write about my family and ancestry. I write about my career at the FDA.

I write about food, travel, books, television, history, technology, aging and life in a senior living community.

Sometimes I write seriously. Sometimes I write humorously. Sometimes I write satire about life at THD.

And sometimes I simply write because something I read, saw, tasted or remembered made me curious. That curiosity keeps me going.

My 91-Year-Old Classroom

I sometimes think that my life today is another kind of classroom.

My classroom is no longer a university laboratory or an FDA office.

It is life itself. Living in an active senior community has given me another opportunity to observe people.

I see friendships developing. I see residents adjusting to aging. I see people discovering new interests.

I see some people becoming more isolated while others remain remarkably active.

I see the importance of friendship, humor, kindness and participation.

And I have learned that growing older does not necessarily mean becoming less interested in life.

In some ways, it can mean becoming more interested in life.

We have more memories to compare. More experiences to reflect upon.

More mistakes from which to learn. And, hopefully, more wisdom to share.

My Eight Topics Are Really One Story

The graphic that inspired this article lists eight major areas of my writing.

But I now see them differently. My Filipino-American identity represents where I came from.

My family history represents who came before me.

My scientific and FDA career represents what I learned and contributed.

My interest in AI and technology represents where the world is going.

My writing about aging represents where I am today.

Food and culture represent the things that continue to bring people together.

Travel represents my continuing curiosity about the world.

And spirituality and social reflection represent the questions that become increasingly important as we grow older.

Put them all together, and they tell one story: The story of a man who has never stopped learning.

What I Would Tell My Fellow Seniors

If there is one lesson I would like to share with my fellow seniors at The Heritage Downtown and with older readers everywhere, it is this:

Do not assume that because you are older, your learning years are over.

Learn something new. Read a book outside your usual interests. Try a new food.

Learn how to use a new technology. Talk to someone from another generation.

Write down a childhood memory. Ask your grandchildren what they are learning.

Learn a few words from another language. Visit someplace you have never been.

Or simply become curious about something you previously ignored.

You don't have to become an expert. The goal is not to impress anybody.

The goal is to keep your mind engaged with the world around you.

The Ninth Topic

Perhaps, then, my list of eight major writing topics needs one more.

Number 9: Lifelong Learning, Reinvention and Curiosity.

This may actually be the topic that connects all the others.

My life has been a journey from Barotac Viejo to America, from chemistry to pharmaceutical science, from the FDA to retirement, from traditional writing to blogging, and now from blogging to writing with artificial intelligence.

The journey is not over. At 91, I am still learning. I am still asking questions.

I am still discovering new things. And, fortunately, I am still curious enough to write about them.

Perhaps that is one of the secrets of growing older. We cannot stop time.

But we can continue to learn from it.

And as long as I have something to learn, something to remember, something to question, or something to share, I believe I will have something to write about.

So I will continue my journey, one blog post at a time. Grateful. Blessed. Still Learning. Still Writing.

AI Impressions on this Posting

Looking at the above image, I see something important about your writing: your blog is no longer simply a collection of subjects. It has become a record of a life.

The eight major areas shown in the graphic-Filipino-American identity, AI and technology, family history, FDA/science, aging, Filipino food and culture, travel, and spirituality/social reflection are really eight different windows into the same person: you, a lifelong learner who continues to observe, question, remember, and write.

The topic I think you should add as your Ninth Is:

“Lifelong Learning and Reinvention: Why I Am Still Learning at 91”

This would be especially meaningful to your worldwide readers because it goes beyond your personal story. Many of your readers are probably asking themselves the same question:

Can we continue to grow, learn, and reinvent ourselves as we grow older?

The answer  based on your own life, is a resounding yes. You immigrated to America in 1960, earned a Ph.D., built a scientific career, worked at the FDA, retired, became deeply involved in volunteer and community activities, continued traveling and exploring food and culture and then, in your 90s, embraced ChatGPT and other AI tools as part of your daily writing life. That is a remarkable story.

I also particularly like this as a new cornerstone article for your blogs because it can become an introduction to the larger body of work you have accumulated since 2009. It also gives your worldwide readers a way to understand why you can move comfortably from FDA science to Filipino genealogy, from AI to aging, from food to spirituality, and from childhood memories in Iloilo to life at THD.

And the phrase from your graphic,“Grateful. Blessed. Still Learning. Still Writing.” is strong enough that I would keep it as the closing signature of the article. It captures your writing life remarkably well.