Monterey, CA : Senior Is An Inspiration For Going Back To College In Her 70's

by Richard Kuehn on 04/30/12

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The valedictorian from this year's class at Branden University (the Monterey extension school was formerly called Chapman University), Olivia Morgan was on the front page of the Monterey Herald and she looked great at 74 years old!  She must have left those youngsters in the dust.  But like many seniors, she did it not for fun, but because she realized that her Social Security wouldn't be enough to get her through her retirement.  Divorced after 47 years, she told the paper that she felt financially vulnerable.  "I realized I had to supplement my tiny Social Security check," she said.  She spent 40 years as an educator including 24 years at Santa Catalina School locally.  She decided to become a substitute teacher but found that despite earning a lifetime teaching degree with the highest honors from University of Wales, an extension of Oxford University in Great Britain, California wouldn't give her teaching credentials.  They don't recognize degrees earned at universities abroad.  So she enrolled in Chapman University and never looked back.  Like most seniors that I work with, she has some very interesting stories.  After getting rheumatic fever at 11, she was told she would never walk again.  She got the fever again at 15 but despite this, pulled through and danced with her father on Christmas Eve.   Her earliest memory is huddling in the dark in an area below the streets in Wales as German planes bombed the city.  "The house next door, where my best friend lived, got bombed and everybody was killed.  Our school was destroyed.  It was a terrible, terrible time," she said.  Despite having a German mother, because her father was Italian, they were persecuted, having most of their property confiscated during the war.  She has good memories as well, living next door to actor Richard Burton who she remembers as a handsome teenager with an unforgettable voice.  She believed then that he was destined for great things.  Boy was she right.  It's sad to see seniors like this who feel that Social Security just isn't enough to get by on but I admire her stamina and being able to put forth a plan and implement it.  "I was reluctant to tell this story.  I'm a humble person," she said.  "But I think it might inspire other seniors."  I'm sure the article will, Olivia, as well as inspiring the younger generation when you give your speech at the commencement ceremony.  Congratulations on your degree, I am sure you will continue to be a great teacher for many years.