Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 13, 1995 TAG: 9505150022
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BREEA WILLINGHAM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Sara Whitlock was working in her garden one day 12 years ago when a woman stopped to admire her yellow, pink and white irises. The woman was so impressed she suggested Whitlock go to school to study horticulture.
Whitlock took her advice and - at the age of 63 - began taking classes at Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke.
She never thought she'd actually graduate. "In fact," she said, "I never even applied to the college. I just registered for classes."
Now, at the age of 75, Whitlock holds an associate's degree in general studies.
"I'm very excited about graduating. I've been going to school for 12 years," Whitlock said with a big sigh of relief.
She was among the 435 graduates at Friday's commencement exercises.
Whitlock said it took her so long to finish school because she and her husband, Hubert, went to Florida every winter.
She took classes in Florida while doing volunteer work; when they would return to Roanoke in the spring, she took one or two classes a semester at Virginia Western. The credits from the classes she took in Florida didn't transfer to Virginia Western, so she often had to repeat courses.
Whitlock retired in 1977 after 38 years as a nurse. She spent most of her career doing in-home nursing and six years in the newborn nursery at Lewis-Gale Hospital, which she said was her favorite. She also did five years of surgery nursing.
After retiring, Whitlock spent most of her time working in her garden - the thing she enjoys the most - and oil painting.
Whitlock is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa junior college honor society and graduated with a 3.93 grade-point average, though she doesn't like to brag about it. However, she doesn't mind showing off the Phi Theta Kappa pinky ring her husband gave her.
"I told my teachers I like to make A's," she said, "and I sat in the front of the class because that's where the good students sit."
One of Whitlock's teachers in 1991 was Matt Chittum. "I gave Matt a hard time," Whitlock said.
"She did give me a hard time," Chittum said. "She corrected the spelling on a couple of words on my syllabus the first day of class.
"She made the first semester a lot easier for me. She wasn't intimidated by the much younger kids, and she brought a lot to the class from living 72 years at that point."
Despite being the oldest student in her classes, Whitlock said she wasn't nervous about going to college.
"I wasn't really nervous, just curious. I'm too old to get nervous," she said, laughing.
Whitlock said her age didn't bother her younger classmates, either.
"They treated me like one of them. Nobody treated me out of the way. They were supportive of the fact that somebody this old was going to school."
Just like the typical college student, Whitlock would sometimes stay up all night studying and would even hang a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door of her study.
"I warned my family not to disturb me unless it was a life-or-death situation," she said. "Tests were difficult all the way through, but I got through it simply with the love and grace of God."
Now that she has finished school, Whitlock said she's just going to work in her garden and do more painting. In fact, Whitlock said she's not going to hang her degree.
"They're just pieces of paper," she said. "I'm going to put it in my box with my other certificates."
by CNB