"Senior" Freshman Inducted into Texas Phi Theta Kappa Chapter
At 73, Joann Paul is the most senior freshman at College of the Mainland in
Texas City, Texas. On August 10, she was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, perhaps
as one of its oldest active members.
The Bacliff, Texas, retiree
started at College of the Mainland at age 68.
"I took Spanish
and 12 other credit hours at College of the Mainland a few years ago," said
Paul.
"Then I left to go to Bible College."
She came
back to College of the Mainland earlier this year to complete an associate
degree.
She plans to graduate in December, a month shy of her
74th birthday.
Paul's educational journey began back in the
1970s, when she earned a bachelor's degree in sociology and a life lesson
from the proverbial college of hard knocks.
"I was married in
my teens and divorced with three children at 38. I had to go to work," Paul
said.
Her degree in sociology got her a job but she soon found
"pushing papers" was not to her liking. So, she became a licensed vocational
nurse.
"I made better money as an LVN than I did with my bachelor's
degree," she recalled.
A few years later, she wanted to change
professions again.
"I have always had a chance at different
things in life and I always believed that you are never too old to learn new
things. I like to study. I like to l learn."
With her Bible college
degree complete and her associate degree on the horizon, Paul plans to enter
the ministry at her church.
"It's one job I can't be fired from
and it's one job that my life of learning has prepared me for," she said.
But
even then, Paul insists, she will keep taking classes at College of the Mainland,
albeit for enjoyment.
"It keeps my mind young."
(Story
and photo courtesy of Jim Higgins, Communication Director, College of
the Mainland)
