Amy Craton. SCREENGRAB from WMUR 9 黑料社
Amy Craton is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and, now, a top graduate of a university at 94 years old.
After taking online classes for two and a half years, the Hawaiian native received her bachelor鈥檚 degree in creative writing and English in a surprise awarding by officials from Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU).
She dropped out of college in 1962 to raise her four children, shortly after her husband divorced her. Decades after,聽Craton never thought she could still claim her much-awaited diploma. In 2013, she enrolled in online classes in SNHU and managed to score a perfect 4.0 GPA (grade point average) for all her subjects.
鈥淚 said, 鈥業 can鈥檛 do it. I can鈥檛 go to school again,鈥欌�� Craton told local news site . 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 see just sitting there, watching Netflix all the time鈥ou have to live, you have to learn, as long as you can.鈥�
SMHU officials personally flew to Honolulu to meet Craton, who strolls in a wheelchair and has hearing impairments, to bestow her diploma. 鈥淭hough I do hear, it was difficult making out what the professor was saying, but then I found out about online classes,鈥� she elaborated to . 鈥淚t was definitely for me.鈥�
School president Paul LeBlanc was also stunned with Craton鈥檚 determination to finish her studies despite her age. 鈥淚 think we were all a little surprised,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or someone to go back to school in their 90s and handle new technology, [that can] be a little surprising, but given what we understand about Amy, it鈥檚 probably not a surprise in her case.鈥�
Finishing a bachelor鈥檚 degree is not the end of the road for Craton, as she is about to enroll in a master鈥檚 degree program in the same university. She is also set to聽put out a children鈥檚 book soon.
鈥淏ut, I feel like I鈥檓 still on the road,鈥� Craton said. 鈥淚 have more to learn.鈥� 聽Gianna Francesca Catolico/rga