Victor (Vic) Strecher

I think we need to have people, especially my students.

What I have my students do is try to explore the sources more.

will tell you, especially when they move into their 70s or 80s or even 90s, I've lost my purpose.

I used to be a big shot at work or I had this family and now suddenly I don't.

I don't really have that purpose anymore.

How do we help those people?

How do we help older people in general find greater purpose?

But one of the pieces of advice we give pretty regularly to older people is to think about volunteering.

Volunteerism has been shown to improve people's purpose.

It seems to actually improve our epigenetic or our biological clocks, actually.

So volunteering can be really helpful.

If you think about yourself and then your family and then your friends as being in concentric circles and moving out further and further in these concentric circles of helping others, being kind to these other people, as you move further out,

I think actually you become a happier person.

Now, that's just a theory that I have, but I really do believe that.

I tell people or my students in public health, you will end up helping people.

It will be your job to help people, many people who you might not ever meet, you might not know, and to some extent you might not even like.

That becomes your job.

And if you take that job really seriously, you are in public health.

And you will, as Jonas Salk said, be a good ancestor.

It was my pleasure and honor, Shankar.