Try as we might, we cannot stay young forever. Although this is a truth everyone knows, the thought of becoming old is usually the furthest thing from our minds. That's why we rarely pay attention to the physical changes that make everyday life challenging for the elderly or the financial difficulties they may experience after retirement. Many of us consider these problems irrelevant to our lives, so we have little understanding of what it means to be old. In order to understand the elderly more, 27-year-old Regina Martin and 34-year-old Trent Bowman decided to participate in a TV documentary called Switching Ages. For one month, they transformed themselves into old people. In addition to learning how to walk and talk like people in their seventies, Regina and Trent also spent five hours every morning putting on make-up to look older. They even wore heavy body suits and contact lenses that hindered their movements and eyesight. Finally, they wore fake teeth and gray wigs to complete their aged looks. Their amazing disguises, however, were only the tip of the iceberg of the transformation they would experience.

"Regina Martin has been a passionate dance instructor for the past three years. Although she is still a few years away from turning 30, Regina is starting to feel even more pressure to retain her looks. She obsessively takes care of her body and always eats healthy food. She has a strong fear of her youth disappearing and feels uncomfortable around old people, to the point where she is unwilling to visit her 81-year-old grandmother. On the first day of her challenge, Regina could only stare at her transformed self in disbelief. After a few minutes, Regina sighed and said, "This wrinkled face doesn't look nice." Later Regina was sent to a tiny flat in a retirement complex, where she spent several days enduring solitude and gradually adapted to living alone"On the first day of her challenge, Regina could only stare at her transformed self in disbelief. After a few minutes, Regina sighed and said, "This wrinkled face doesn't look nice." Later Regina was sent to a tiny flat in a retirement complex, where she spent several days enduring solitude and gradually adapted to living alone

As part of the experiment, Regina worked at a grocery store that many elderly people visit. Thinking that they would be boring and stuffy, she was reluctant to have conversations with them at first. However, she soon found it very enjoyable to talk with them. She met older people who still enjoyed bike riding and others who liked playing video games. At her retirement complex, Regina joined a companionship group, and she was surprised to find that older people could still fall in love and suffer from broken hearts. Her new friendships continued to grow stronger over the next couple of weeks, and she began to feel as if she were their peer.

As time went on, Regina started feeling guilty for deceiving them. She decided to come clean about her real age to her two closest elderly friends, Susan and Charlotte, a week before the challenge was over. She worried that they might feel betrayed after her confession, but they just laughed it off and shared some life tips with her to help her enjoy her youth more. At the end of the experiment, Regina said, "I don't look at the elderly in the same way that I used to anymore. I have realized how ignorant I was. I couldn't see that old people are just like me. Now I can look past their gray hair and wrinkles and see the young people inside them. Instead of worrying about my looks fading, I'm now fully embracing the idea of growing old."

Before participating in this documentary, Trent had had very little interaction with elderly people except for his 77-year-old grandfather. He enjoyed his day-to-day life without worry and thought it quite satisfying to live in his parents' house. During the weekdays, Trent would spend his time working part-time at a restaurant. On the weekends, he would play basketball or go shopping with his friends. In short, Trent had little ambition and little money saved up for the future, but he didn't care. As he only lived in the present, Trent never thought about getting old. He just regarded the elderly as a strange tribe that he would never join. Spending a month fully disguised as a 72-year-old man was much more life-changing than Trent could have ever imagined. He could finally see for himself what it was like to live as a senior citizen in society.

Early in the experiment, Trent tried to get on a bus to go downtown. Due to the special body suit and lenses, he had trouble climbing up the stairs of the bus. Then a person waiting behind him started rushing him, expressing annoyance. In his hurry to step onto the bus, Trent almost fell on the stairs. He was astonished to see the disrespectful attitude toward old people and the way they were treated. Later he visited the restaurant where he once worked, but he noticed that no one paid much attention to him. People acted as if he weren't there. Trent started to realize what it felt like to be invisible. However, there were some brighter moments that helped Trent have a more cheerful view of growing older. When Trent took a short trip to Colombia, he encountered a delightful older couple ― Andre, 78, and Eunice, 76 ― who were there to learn salsa dancing. While having a conversation with them, Trent was impressed by the fact that they were still healthy and content with their lives. The passion they still had for life inspired Trent to start making some huge changes in his life.

"I realized life was too short to just sit around and wait for things to happen to me," he said. Now that Trent knows how important it is to plan and save for the future, he has decided to find a more stable job and move out of his parents' house. Trent has also started to exercise regularly so that he can stay healthy and fully enjoy his golden years in the future. Living as an older person was a hard experience for both Regina and Trent, but they consider it an invaluable one. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity helped them understand not only the physical changes that older people go through but also the way society treats them. By walking in someone else's shoes, Regina and Trent were able to see that the elderly also enjoy life with passion. Moreover, the experience changed the way they conduct their lives. They hope that this documentary will help raise awareness of the problems the elderly continue to face and help young people have a more positive view of growing older