OAKLAND, Calif. – It's never too late to earn your college
degree. Just ask 94-year-old Hazel Soares.
The San Leandro woman was one of about 500
undergraduates to pick up diplomas Saturday during a commencement
ceremony at Mills College, an all-women's
school in Oakland.
"It's taken me quite a long time because I've had a busy life,"
said Soares. "I'm finally achieving it, and it makes me feel really
good."
Soares, who has six children and more than 40 grandchildren and
great-grandchildren, is believed to be the world's second oldest
person to graduate from college.
Nola Ochs (OAKS) of Kansas became the oldest when she graduated
from Fort Hays State University three years
ago at age 95, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Ochs, now 98, topped that academic feat
Saturday, when she received her master's degree in liberal studies
from Fort Hays.
The nonagenarians are earning their degrees as the Obama
administration pushes to once again make the United States the
world leader in college attainment by 2020.
Born in Richmond, Calif. in 1915, Soares had wanted to attend
college right after she graduated from Roosevelt High School in
Oakland in 1932, but that was during the Great
Depression.
"Unless you had some help, it would have been impossible to go
to college," Soares said. "However I never lost the desire to
go."
Soares married twice, raised six kids and worked as a nurse and
event organizer before she retired and decided to return to pursue
her dream of obtaining a college education.
"We are really amazed and very proud of my mom," said Regina
Hungerford, Soares' youngest child. "The biggest thing that we can
all learn is that we're never too old."
At Saturday's commencement, she was congratulated by
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who delivered the
keynote speech, and was cheered by her classmates.
"She's really an incredible inspiration," said Sandeep Brar, who
also graduated Saturday.
Soares doesn't plan to relax now that she finally has her
degree. The art history major hopes to work
as a docent at a San Francisco Bay area
museum.
Through her experience, she hopes others realize that it's never
too late to get a college education.
"There's no reason why you could not go back," Soares said.
"Some people do give up the idea or postpone the idea. It's too
late. It's too much work. They may not realize that once you try it
it's exciting to go to school."