Meet Virginia Hislop, 105YO Woman Earns Stanford Master's Degree

A 105-year-old woman from Washington, United States, made history as she obtained a Master's degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) on June 16. Virginia Hislop wanted to obtain her Master's degree in 1940, but could not as she got married. As she collected her long-anticipated degree, she remarked, “My goodness! I’ve waited a long time for this." GSE Dean Daniel Schwartz said in a speech at the beginning of the GSE’s commencement ceremony, “A fierce advocate for equity and the opportunity to learn … today we are proud to confer the master of arts in education to our 105-year-old graduate,” 

Who Is Virginia Hislop?

Hislop was born in Palo Alto and resides in Yakima, Washington. The Stanford GSE website quotes Hislop as saying, "I think I did good things for our local school system and I helped broaden it out. For me, this degree is an appreciation of the many years I’ve put in working for the schools in the Yakima area and on different boards.” 

Virginia Hislop started her Stanford journey in 1936 when she went to get a bachelor's degree. She started her Master's education soon after but had to leave campus due to personal commitments. Her then-boyfriend, George Hislop, got called in to serve during World War II, prompting the pair to get married and her to leave campus just before turning in her final thesis.

Hislop got a degree in education, a subject which she found a passion in from her children. When her daughter Anne started first grade in Washington, she persuaded her to take up advanced English instead of home economics as the school had suggested. "I felt that she could learn to cook at home and it was more important that she learn more academic skills at school."

Hislop was moved to join the school board to have more of a say in what children were being taught and to help set them up for success. “I felt that all the kids should have an opportunity to develop their potential as best they could and that everybody should have a crack at higher education if they wanted,” she said. Hislop worked on the board for about 13 years.

Later, Hislop went on to helm several important positions like becoming a founding member of the board of directors for Yakima Community College and helping to start Heritage University in Toppenish, Washington, where she served on the board for 20 years. “I’ve been doing this work for years and it’s nice to be recognised with this degree,” she said.

90-Year-Old Texas Woman Becomes Oldest Graduate In University History

"Slowing down doesn't occur to me," said Minnie Payne, a 90-year-old woman, who became the oldest graduate from the University of North Texas on December 17. She graduated with a Master's in interdisciplinary studies this week, after earning a Bachelor's degree in general studies in 2006 from the Texas Woman's University when she was 73. She worked as a copy editor for 16 years after her graduation and currently works at Houston Magazine, where she plans on working for as long as she can.

"Before I started my undergraduate, I was to be at my desk at seven o'clock. I was a transcriptionist [and] word processor, and I would get up at 4:30, drink coffee, walk up and down my street three times in Carrolton, Texas, come in and write cheerful notes to shut-ins in my church, eat breakfast, take a shower, get ready and be at my desk." Payne told NBC5.

Payne graduated from the University of North Texas (UNT) with a 3.88 GPA. Her 23-year-old grandson, who was also her batchmate receiving his degree that day, held her hand as she slowly made her way to the podium. The crowd roared in cheer for Payne as she received her degree and posed for the flashing cameras.

"It is still sort of surreal," she told USA Today. The writer, who lives in College Station, Texas, grew up in South Carolina in a small town 16 miles from Greenville. Her family was in the textile business, and they didn't have much fortune, she said.

“I lived in a very small world,” Payne told USA Today. “There was one movie (theatre), one drugstore, one post office, one service station, one grocery store,” she said about her town, Pelzer. She graduated from high school in 1950 and attended junior college until she got a real estate job as a clerk.

She got married to her late husband, Dale in 1961 and worked as a court reporter for the South Carolina Industrial Commission. They moved across several states for her husband's job, until they settled in Texas for 30 years. She was a homemaker for a while, to look after her two children. She then became a substitute teacher, transcriptionist and word processor for 30 years.

She wanted to study journalism, so in her late 60s, she enrolled at TWU and partook in a program allowing TWU, UNT, and Texas A&M University- students to take courses at all three universities. “The journalism program was being phased out and that's really what I wanted to major in,” she said. Payne added “There were two journalism courses and electives left. I was allowed to take three journalism courses and one business course at UNT.”

Although the pandemic put a temporary hold on her dreams for a while, she decided to take up an interdisciplinary online course and completed her Master's degree. “I think that once a person starts improving themselves and they start mingling with others who are trying to improve themselves, it's an incentive for them to move forward toward higher goals,” she said. I wanted to do well, I spent many all-nighters and I spent a lot of time studying... The writing part of it was the most enjoyable," Payne said.

The writer said, “When you're writing, you really are in sort of a different world,” she said. “You're stretching your imagination and it’s very therapeutic for me,” as quoted by USA Today. She said she loves mingling and learning stories from people.

Payne added, “I made a big accomplishment but I feel that I still have a lot of good living left to do,” she said. “I want to work until the last minute because if I'm not doing something worthwhile, if I'm not doing something to help someone, I am not a happy camper.”