101-Year-Old Woman Returned To School And Will Graduate College With Her Granddaughter

By Melissa Noel, Essence 

Sarah Simpkins is reminding us that you’re never too old to learn. At age 101, she is working toward her college degree. 

Simpkins is studying early childhood education at Brightpoint Community College in Chester, Virginia, according to local television station WTOK News.

She can obtain her degree for free thanks to Virginia’s Senior Citizens Higher Education Act of 1974, which allows senior citizens over the ago of 60 to enroll in higher education at no cost.

Simpkins dropped out of college more than eight decades ago after becoming pregnant. She married and had 12 children but always wanted to finish her degree.

“So that I might inspire somebody else,” she said. “I returned to school. It was never out of my mind,” she told WTOK News.

Simpkins takes in-person art classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and finds her general coursework easy. “When I go to do the homework, that’s easy,” she explained. “Piece of cake.”

Simpkins’ granddaughter, Halimah Shepherd-Crawford, is also studying at the community college, so she’s in good company.

At age 96, Simpkins, a former semi-professional bowler, moved from New York to Virginia to live with her granddaughter.

“My grandmother’s just an inspiration,” Shepherd-Crawford told WTOK News. “It’s special because we both will finish together, and we’ll both walk across the stage together.” 

This grandmother and granddaughter duo will graduate together in May of this year.

“It made us work harder. And that was our motivation. We’re gonna do this together. We’re gonna finish together,” Shepherd-Crawford continued. Simpkins, who finished her first semester at Brightpoint Community College with a 3.5 GPA, added, “I wanted to do that just to prove to me that I can do it.”