Others her age are taking it easy in their twilight years. Minnie Payne takes off again: At 90, she receives her master's degree. Then her dream job follows.
Denton – Finding your place in your professional life is anything but easy in a world full of possibilities. The upcoming Generation Z in particular seems to have difficulty with the idea of a regular working week. For those who are still searching, Minnie Payne should be both a role model and a consolation: the American is certainly one of the older generation. She recently received her master's degree – at the proud age of 90.
Late school: Completed studies 73 years after graduating from high school
Among the thousands of University of North Texas (UNT) graduates, Payne may have stood out despite her petite appearance, considering that her fellow students could easily be her great-grandchildren. There are usually four to six years between high school graduation and a university diploma in the USA. Minnie Payne was 73 years old.
But neither Minnie Payne nor her career is ordinary. “It’s a long story, of course,” she says when asked CBS News, how the late school came about. While others are ushering in a comfortable retirement or taking the long-awaited trip around the world – or other completely stupid things – Minnie Payne is enrolling in studies again in her late 60s.
“It was always important to me to continue to develop,” she says. “When I retired at 68, I realized I wasn’t doing anything constructive with my time,” said Payne, picking up an almost forgotten thread in her life.
American woman is the oldest graduate: between her wife and mother, her studies fell by the wayside
When she was younger, Minnie Payne had already graduated from university, but had to drop out of her studies at a junior college (comparable to a German technical college) in order to earn money. The imminent wedding was quickly followed by offspring and grandchildren, and there was no time for studying.
Her parents told her how important an academic education is. “My mother and father worked on the assembly line, we were poor,” she remembers of her childhood. At the age of 73, she completed her bachelor's degree and last July she successfully completed her master's degree in comparative sciences (Interdisciplinary Studies). Even if she had to spend several nights cramming for it. Accompanied by her grandson, she received her diploma at the graduation ceremony.
Your recipe for so much stamina? Always look like yourself from day to day on the university's homepage explained. She never felt uncomfortable among all the people in their early twenties; also because the fellow students never made their age an issue. “They treated me like I was one of them,” she says, emphasizing the mutual respect.
Senior studies: Older semesters are not uncommon in Germany
Now that she has her master’s degree in her hands after all these years, she says it feels “surreal.” CBS News. But resting on their laurels is out of the question for them. “As long as I’m still fit enough, I want to keep working,” explains Minnie Payne, who recently started a job at a magazine in Houston. Her absolute dream job: “Many people write because they like it. I write because I love it. Because it’s therapy for me and gives me something meaningful to do.”
Minnie Payne is now officially the oldest to receive her master's degree from the University of North Texas. However, going back to university at an advanced age is anything but unusual in this country. According to a survey by the information platform Research & Teaching Of the total 2.8 mil
lion students in Germany in the 2018/19 winter semester, around 95,000 were older than 40 years, and 2,500 were even older than 65.
Numerous universities in Germany are increasingly offering courses for older people. Names such as “Studying from 50” (University of Magdeburg), “Studium Plus” (PH Freiburg), “Seniors Academy” (TU Dresden), “Campus of Generations” (Uni Trier) can be found loudly Time academic courses specifically for seniors. Many people can also register as guest auditors. At the University of Freiburg, for example, the costs are 50 euros per semester. You don't need a high school diploma to study for seniors. (rku)
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