I'm not really certain whether 62 years of age qualifies me as the World's Oldest Journalism Undergraduate, but this morning I registered for the seven week summer semester. I skipped the three week "Maymester", because in three weeks I can barely put together a decent grocery list, much less master a semester's worth of material. This is my third semester as a student after an absence of a few decades.
Even seven weeks isn't sufficient for taking one of my journalism courses, or courses in my minor (Spanish). So I'm using the short semester to get one of the few remaining core requirements out of the way. I've registered for Philosophy 1010, which is a critical thinking course.
This morning I also tallied my remaining courses, and unless I increase my class load a bit, it will be roughly two years until graduation. At this point I'm in no hurry, so I'm going to continue to emphasize learning the material over graduating quickly. This means I'll take two courses in both Fall and Spring semesters, one course in the Summer. I'm not planning on doing a job search after graduation, and I can freelance before I get the degree. So the degree will be a nice credential which will come whenever it arrives.
Overall, my enthusiam is still high for this pursuit, although I might feel somewhat less happy if I'd crammed Maymester into the mix. I'm not exactly the sort of person who thrives on the classic retirement activities. I neither golf nor fish, and working on our house full time would drive me nuts after awhile.
I'd recommend going back to school for anyone who loves learning, and is at the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another.
I would also really like to know the age of the oldest journalism undergraduate who is still actively pursuing a degree. Maybe my next Research class will guide me toward figuring it out.