A 99-year-old woman from Maine graduated from college on Friday- 75 years after she first enrolled.
Jessie Jones-White first attended the state's Beal College in 1939 majoring in bookkeeping and stenography. But she was prevented from receiving her diploma because she could not afford the $5 transcript fee, WVII-TV reported.
Since then, Jones-White was able land a job in bookkeeping job without the degree. She also taught herself skills like sewing and cooking and spends her days doing research on the Internet.
Jones-White, who remained in Maine her whole life, finally received her diploma at a special graduation ceremony at Beal College.
"This is a lot more fun than it would have been 75 years ago," Jones-White told the Bangor Daily News, wearing her graduate's cap.
Jones-White's college career began with only $500 she received from her uncle. Her love for learning stretches back to her childhood, when she completed the first and second grade in the same year and skipped the third grade.
Even her childhood injuries from polio didn't stop her from attending her college courses, which she walked to and from on crutches.
The 99-year-old never lost her connection to education. She uses the Internet to do research on how to live a healthy life.
"I try to learn something new everyday, even if it's just a word or a way of doing something," Jones-White told the newspaper.
It wasn't until three months ago when a teacher from Winterport who knew about Jones-White's situation told the college president that she finally received her degree.
"This woman has done so much in her life," she needs that completion," Dona Gilbert told the BDN.
Beal University President Allen Stehle paid Jones-White's long outstanding $5 transcript fee.
"It just completes my life, I think," Jones-White told the newspaper. "It was something I missed, not having a diploma."
