Amy Craton is 93 years old, lives in Honolulu, is a mother of 4, and just received her college degree online with a perfect GPA.
“Sitting here one day in front of the computer, I thought, boy, I’m just wasting my time here. I think I’ll go back to college and finish my degree,” Craton told NBC News.
Craton first went to college decades ago, but ended up dropping out and getting a full-time job as an administrative assistant for a chemical plant. She always wanted to finish her degree, but it seemed impossible as she now uses a wheelchair and is hard of hearing. Her son suggested she take classes online, and the tech-savvy Craton loved the idea. She decided to enroll in online courses through Southern New Hampshire University. This fall, Craton will receive her Bachelor’s in creative writing and English as the oldest person to ever to graduate from the school.
She has a 4.0 GPA, and doesn’t struggle at all to keep up with the course load, her academic adviser, Chrisandra Bauer, told NBC news.
Craton is “persistent and so dedicated,” she says. “This is kind of something amazing for me to witness. She’s just that kind of student that takes initiative and figures things out on her own.”
After Craton graduates (she’ll get her diploma in the mail, as she can’t travel to commencement), she says she plans to write poetry. “It’s never dull. I’ve always got something to do. And I’m always learning something,” she told NBC.
Oh, and on top of studying for a college degree and scoring perfect grades, Craton is also destroying the stereotype that older people are out of touch with modern day technology.
“I’m on Facebook and I email. I’m all over. The minute I get up in the morning, I go over and I check the news here and in the world,” she told NBC. “I’m comfortable being online.”