A 90-year-old Illinois great-grandmother graduates from college after dropping out almost 70 years ago. Joyce Viola DeFauw first enrolled in college back in 1951, but after three-and-a-half years, she left to get married and raise a family. She went on to become a mother of nine, grandmother of 17, and great-grandmother of 26, but she never gave up her dream to graduate from college.
Her children had heard her say that she wished she’d finished school back in the ‘50s, so they suggest that she go back now. So the nonagenarian, who lives in a retirement facility in Geneseo, Illinois, re-enrolled at Northern Illinois University and started taking the courses she needed to earn her bachelor’s degree.
She says it wasn’t always easy, but she didn’t give up and worked toward her degree nearly every day. "I've had wonderful instructors that helped me and suggested things and guided me," DeFauw says. "As far as the encouragement of everyone — my friends and my family and my teachers — I just couldn't give up." So she kept at it and then over the weekend, more than 70 years after she first started, she finally earned her degree. When asked if she had any advice for someone who’s put off chasing their dreams, the great-grandma says, “There's so much that life offers that you miss out on if you don't take advantage of it.”