Re: Woman, age 95, to graduate from college

On Apr 30, 8:25 am, NoName <NoN...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 30 Apr 2007 05:35:16 -0700, Nantz <thena...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:





On Apr 27, 12:13 pm, NoName <NoN...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Woman, 95, Set To Become World's Oldest College Grad

HAYS, Kan. -- Sitting on the front row in her college classes
carefully taking notes, Nola Ochs is just as likely to answer
questions as to ask them.

That's not the only thing distinguishing her from fellow students at
Fort Hays State University. She's 95, and when she graduates May 12,
she'll be what is believed to be the world's oldest person to be
awarded a college degree.

She didn't plan it that way. She just loved to learn as a teenager on
a Hodgeman County farm, then as a teacher at a one-room school after
graduating from high school and later as a farm wife and mother.

"That yearning for study was still there. I came here with no thought
of it being an unusual thing at all," she said. "It was something I
wanted to do. It gave me a feeling of satisfaction. I like to study
and learn."

The record Ochs will break, according to Guinness World Records,
belongs to Mozelle Richardson, who at age 90 in 2004 received a
journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma.

"We should all be so lucky and do such amazing things. Her achievement
challenges us all to reach for our own goals and dreams," said Tom
Nelson, AARP chief operating officer in Washington.

She's getting offers for television appearances, and reporters show up
wanting to interview her. She acknowledges enjoying it.

"It brings attention to this college and this part of the state. Good
people live here," she said. "And I still wear the same size hat."

But she added: "I don't dwell on my age. It might limit what I can do.
As long as I have my mind and health, it's just a number."

Ochs is proudest of being the matriarch of a family that includes
three sons -- a fourth died in 1995 -- along with 13 grandchildren and
15 great grandchildren.

"They're all such fine boys," she said. "Our main crop is our
children, and the farm is a good place to raise them."

Ochs started taking classes at Dodge City Community College after her
husband of 39 years, Vernon, died in 1972. A class here and there over
the years, and she was close to having enough hours for an
undergraduate degree.

Last fall, Ochs moved the 100 miles from her farm southwest of Jetmore
to an apartment on campus to complete the final 30 hours to get a
general studies degree with an emphasis on history.

At 5-foot-2, her white hair pulled into a bun, she walks purposely
down hallways to classes with her books in a cloth tote bag. Students
nod and smile; she's described as witty, charming and down to earth.

"Everybody has accepted me, and I feel just like another student," she
said. "The students respect me."

Coming out of a classroom, Skyla Foster, a junior majoring in history,
sees Ochs and calls out to her. To everyone on campus, she's "Nola,"
not Mrs. Ochs -- and that's the way she wants it.

"She is pretty neat, a very interesting person and very
knowledgeable," Foster said.

Todd Leahy, history department chairman, wondered at first if Ochs
could keep up with the other students. After her second week, all
doubts were gone, as he discovered she could provide tidbits of
history.

Leahy, who had Ochs in four classes, wants to record oral histories
with her after she graduates.

"I can tell them about it, but to have Nola in class adds a dynamic
that can't be topped," Leahy said. "It's a firsthand perspective you
seldom get."

For instance, Ochs offered recollections of the 1930s Midwest dust
bowl, when skies were so dark that lamps were lit during the day and
wet sheets were placed over windows to keep out dust that sounded like
pelting sleet hitting the house.

During a discussion about World War II, Ochs told how she and her
husband, along with other wheat farmers in the area, grew soybeans on
some of their acres for the war effort.

"I would have never talked about that in class, but she brought it up
and we talked about it," Leahy said. "She often adds color to the face
of history."

Ochs hasn't complained about the work, nor has she asked for special
considerations.

In her one-bedroom apartment, books are open and papers and notes are
within easy reach when she sits down at her computer to research and
write.

"I came up here with that purpose. No, I never doubted it. Other
people did it," she said. "I came up here to work, and I enjoy it."

Ochs said she has learned new things. She said she has attained a
better understanding of Russian history and the role Dwight Eisenhower
played in the D-Day invasion.

An added joy for Ochs is that her 21-year-old granddaughter, Alexandra
Ochs, will graduate with her.

"How many people my age have a chance to hang out with their
grandmothers? She's really accepted by the other students," Alexandra
said. "They enjoy her, but probably not as much as I do."

Ochs said she looks forward to getting home to help with the wheat
harvest, as she has done every year for as long as she can remember.
After harvest, she might travel or take more classes at a community
college.

After that?

"I'm going to seek employment on a cruise ship as a storyteller," she
said, smiling.

The determined look in her eye leaves no doubt she's serious.
+++++++++++++++++++
What a charming post that was. It was amusing to find that she could
add facts to one of her history classes by telling about the candles
lit during the dark days of the drought and about wet sheets hung over
the windows to keep out the dust.

I started college when my youngest started first grade. After a couple
semesters I discovered night school, where the classes were not only
smaller, but many of them were taught by full porfessors as opposed to
TA's.

Ah, those were the days.

Nancy

Indeed, my adult years spent in college are fondly remembered.
I had two years of college out of high school and went back and
took evening and Saturday classes to obtain my B.A. when I was
age 47. When I retired from full-time work I enrolled in grad
school and studied anthropology for several years. Loved it!

People should never be afraid of taking college classes at
any age. It beats playing bingo or hanging around in senior
centers:) Many colleges and universities allow seniors to
audit classes at very low cost or even free if there is room
in the class or the professor gives permission.

I thought this article might be inspirational for anyone
who was thinking about taking a college class but had qualms
about "competing" with or being accepted by younger students.

> - Show quoted text -
++++++++++++++
I had one math class where the instructor was from which ever Asian
country that cannot pronounce their r's or their th's, so when he
tried to say 3 r squared he actually said swee ah squa. Took a few
days to figure out what he was saying but I finally mastered it.

I saw in the news a few months ago where some state announced that no
foreign instructor would be hired unless his English could be
understood. Not sure how I feel about that as it only takes a couple
days to figure out what he or she is saying.

I had a good friend from Taiwan who could not say his L's but he could
say his R's so when he asked me if I wanted a cord beer he meant cold
beer. He also was so impressed by John Glen that he named one of his
sons John and the other Glen, but, of course, he always called Glen
Gren.

So many old friends I wish I could see again.

Nancy


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