Hottle: Student, 78, finds passion in college second time around
Molly Hottle
Issue date: 10/23/09 Section: News
|
He doesn't have to because 78-year-old Swanson is one of four Grand View students over the age of 64 who are allowed to take classes for free and for no credit because of their senior citizen status.
"It's important for older people to do something other than watch television," Swanson said. "It's something to do, it keeps me active."
For the last eight years, Swanson has taken one class each fall semester and has completed every photography course offered, as well as several history classes. But this isn't the first time he's been a college student.
Swanson's college career began more than 50 years ago, in the days of pastel kitchens and black-and-white television. He got his associate's degree from a community college before becoming an education major at Western Michigan University.
Swanson realized being a teacher wasn't what he wanted to do. Back then, teachers made a little more than $2,000 a year. But he graduated anyway, married a teacher and moved to Chicago where he got a job in a manufacturing plant.
He spent 35 years there until he retired in 1990. After that, Swanson and his wife followed their son first to Florida and then to Des Moines in 2001.
In Florida, the couple lived in a retirement community the size of a small town and Swanson volunteered to help take and develop photographs for the community's newspaper. It was there that he found his passion for photography.
And it was in a Des Moines photography store where he first heard about Grand View.
"Another guy and the clerk were talking about Grand View and how they offer free classes to those who are 64 and older," Swanson recalled. "The next day I was up here at the registration office."
Now, he's getting another chance at college and this time, one where he has been able to do what he loves.
Diane Schaefer-Johnson, director of admissions, said the opportunity is important to students like Swanson.
"It's fabulous," she said. "I would guess it really ties in to Grand View's mission to lifelong learning."
Be the first to comment on this story