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Grandmother Gets Her Masters At The Ripe Old Age Of 90

Grandmother Gets Her Masters At The Ripe Old Age Of 90

"Nobody is too old to sit down and say 'I'm too old, I can't do it'. There's no such word as 'can't' in the dictionary."​

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

When you walk through your university halls, you're often greeted with people from a rich tapestry of cultures, backgrounds, ages and lifestyles.

But imagine as you're studying to hopefully make your first footstep into the big, wild world, a woman more than four times older than you (if you've come straight from high school) was also hoping to get her degree.

Well, that's what 90-year-old Lorna Prendergast has done at the University of Melbourne.

She's earned her Masters in Ageing and even did the course online.

ABC News

Most of our parents struggle to turn on the TV, but this grandmother has not only figured out her computer; she's also got her Masters on it.

On graduation, Lorna was greeted with a rapturous applause by everyone in the building as her two granddaughters watched on.

"The more I know now, the more I want them to follow their dreams," she told the ABC. "Nobody is too old to sit down and say 'I'm too old, I can't do it'.

"There's no such word as 'can't' in the dictionary."

She wanted to get into this area after the death of her husband Jim, whom she'd been married to for 64 years - bloody good innings that.

Lorna was watching the ABC show Catalyst and her future just clicked.

"I thought 'where am I going?' And just by sheer coincidence, I turned on the TV, and there was this program about music doing so much for people with dementia.

"I just thought 'I want to know something about this', because I'd experienced it in the nursing homes, how music helped the patients up there."

ABC News

Lorna says the university staff were incredibly helpful and made sure all the fancy technology that she didn't have when she studied via distance back in the 80s was easily understandable.

You'd think after getting this, Lorna would hang up her cap and gown and just relax, but she reckons she's not done yet - she just doesn't know what path her life will turn next.

"Well, my daughter reminded me of CS Lewis, who said that 'you're never too old to dream', and to think of another project.

"And I believe that, and don't ask me what mine is going to be, but I'm sure something will come up once I get my house in order."

What an absolute legend this woman is and she proves to us all that you can do anything at any age.

Featured Image Credit: ABC

Topics: Inspirational, Community, Australia