As students at the University of North Texas celebrated the completion of their degrees last weekend, one special graduate was collecting hers: 90-year-old Minnie Payne, who’s the oldest person ever to earn a master’s degree. As it turns out, retirement didn’t suit her, so she decided to go back to school.
Minnie Payne graduated from high school 73 years ago.
Her own parents were textile workers who didn’t get to pursue education. And while Minnie herself got to go to junior college for a year, she had to drop out in order to start working.
Soon after, she was married and had kids, and her dreams of pursuing higher education vanished… at least for a while. However, she never gave up on the idea that one day she’d get to indulge her love of learning again.
Eventually, going back to school became a possibility for her.
“I always wanted to improve myself. When I retired at age 68, I wasn’t doing anything constructive. And it’s my philosophy to constantly be doing something constructive,” Payne told KTVT.
She got her undergraduate degree at 73 and decided to move on to a master’s program in interdisciplinary studies. She’s the oldest person ever to earn a master’s at UNT.
“My grandson will be accompanying me across the stage,” she said before her graduation ceremony.
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Minnie Payne isn’t stopping there.
Now that she has her master’s degree, she’s putting i to good use. She recently got a job at a magazine in Houston, Texas, and plans to keep going as long as she can.
“It’s not my intention to stop work,” she said.
Good for her!
