A Virginia grandmother is proving you’re never too old to learn. Sarah Simpkins is a student at Brightpoint Community College, where she’s enrolled in the school’s Early Childhood Education program. She’s also 101 years old.
Simpkins put her studies on hold to raise her family when she left Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina, at age 20 after learning she was pregnant with her first child. But over 80 years and 12 kids later, she’s back in school and ready to earn the degree she always intended to finish.
“It’s something that I had to do,” Simpkins told a local NBC affiliate. “I’m very, very grateful that God has enabled me to do this.”
And unlike most college students, she doesn’t have to worry about pesky student loans. Virginia’s Senior Citizens Higher Education Act of 1974 allows residents who are 60 years and older to take college credit classes free of charge.
Simpkins lives with her granddaughter Halimah Shepherd-Crawford, who is also a student at the college. Shepherd-Crawford says although she helps her grandma study, Ms. Simpkins is putting in the work.
“I study the assignment, explain it to her, and then she gives me her answers,” she said. “I’m her hands and eyes, but it’s her brain. She’s still super sharp.”
And the proof is in Simpkins’ impressive GPA. She finished her first semester at Brightpoint with two As, one B and a 3.5 grade point average. After the holiday break, she plans to return to classes to finish her degree. Simpkins will be 102 years old at graduation.
Shepherd-Crawford calls her grandmother “an inspiration” and says she looks forward to them getting the degrees they worked so hard to earn.
“It’s special because we both will finish together, and we’ll both walk across the stage together,” she said. “It made us work harder. And that was our motivation. We’re gonna do this together. We’re gonna finish together.”