Alli Bosserman walks through Cayuga Ridge Nursing Home with resident Yvonne Smith.

As part of the Cornell Elderly Partnership (CEP), Alli Bosserman '11, a human development major and gerontology minor, visits Yvonne Smith at Cayuga Ridge Nursing Home near Trumansburg nearly every week and takes her on walks, reads to her and sometimes does her nails. But she's frustrated that she can't do more, such as alleviating her pain or moving her from her wheelchair to bed when she wants to rest.

Because of this, Bosserman wants to earn a master's in nursing and learn the best ways to ease the pain of people receiving long-term care.

"CEP has changed the way I look at life," she said. "It has taught me to look at aging as a healthy, normal and beautiful part of life. We are born with the need for nurture, care and support, and as we age and approach death we return to this state. It's a beautiful process." Read the full article