How late is too late to go back to college?
For UWM student JoAnne Potter, the answer is never.
After working as a business executive, private school teacher, and writer, she decided to finish college — in her 70s.
"I got to the point where I could take a breath and look around and say 'What are the things I wished I’d done?'" says Potter. "And one of the things I’d wished I’d done is finish college."
Potter had started college at UWM in 1969, but she says it didn't go well, and she dropped out. She was still able to find career success, but says not having a degree "held her back."
Her motivation to continue her education at this point in her life came from a desire for knowledge.
"I am a person of faith. And increasingly it got to the point that the church was either unable or unwilling to answer the questions I was asking," Potter says. "The questions I was asking were in many ways philosophical ones. And I said, well darn it, I'll just go back to school and study philosophy!"
Potter enrolled in UWM's philosophy program, along with its Honors College for high-achieving students in January 2022. Her previous college credits transferred over, giving her junior status.
Potter says she feels a similar energy on UWM's campus today that she felt back in 1969.
"There was a feeling that the world needed changing and we were going to be the ones to do it," Potter says. "The students who are in college now feel the same way."
Now 72, Potter is about to graduate with a bachelor’s degree.
That makes her one of just a few senior citizens earning bachelor’s degrees at UWM. Potter is most likely the oldest person to attend UWM’s Honors College.
She was worried as a much older student, that she might be ostracized by her classmates.
"But they did something I never expected — they welcomed me back," Potter says. "I have tons of friends. We meet for coffee, we talk about current events, we talk about our families. It's an amazing place."
Potter says she's not the only senior in her classes. There are often older adults auditing — which means sitting in, but not taking the class for credit.
"It think the more people who show up on campus who are nontraditional — whether they're students or auditors — add to the landscape," Potter says. "Those people are absolutely welcomed."
Potter will graduate later this month, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. She's earning her last few credits at a study abroad program in London this summer, and then will treat herself to a voyage on the Queen Mary back to the United States. It's her graduation present to herself.
