An 85-year-old woman in the UK is proving, yet again, that age is just a number, when it comes to learning. The octogenarian named Lucille Terry is working towards her fourth university degree.
News reports about Terry, a resident of the English town of Cirencester, recently went viral.
“I can’t just sit around, do nothing and watch television all the time,” Terry said, according to report published by the British public service broadcaster, BBC News.
“I like studying. I do enjoy it, it’s not a hardship for me,” she added.
Lucille Terry already has three degrees under her belt and is on her way to get the fourth degree, in religious studies, philosophy and ethics at The Open University, in England.
As per the university website, it takes six years to complete the part-time course, meaning Terry will complete the degree when she is in her nineties. She is currently taking the course remotely.
Terry earned her first degree in pharmacy from Manchester University in 1962. However, she decided to switch career paths to become a teacher. She then went on to pursue psychology after some older students at her school expressed their desire to take psychology exams.
Her third degree, which she completed during her retirement, specialised in Humanities with Religious Studies. Both her recent degrees were completed from The Open University.
“I am not clever. You don’t have to be brilliant to do it,” she told BBC News. “… on the day that I study I feel better, and that’s something people aren’t aware of. It can really do good for the brain,” she added.
On May 20, she was celebrated at the Cirencester Parish Church in England, for her love of higher education, and was awarded a certificate as well.
