Torrington woman celebrating graduation, 87th birthday

Yet while Edna, with her short gray hair and walking cane, may look like an ordinary senior citizen, she accomplished something extraordinary for someone her age. Born in Mitchell on Dec. 29, 1919, Edna is only a week away from her 87th birthday.

Last Friday, she was among the 165 graduates during Chadron State College’s winter commencement.

Earning a college degree was not in her after-high-school graduation plans. Instead, she took the traditional route for women of her generation by getting married. She spent several decades of her adult life ranching in Sioux County with her husband, G. Willard Carpenter, and raising their 11 children.

It wasn't until two years after Willard died in 1977 that Edna enrolled as a student at Eastern Wyoming College in Torrington.

She chose to study education rather than pursue secretarial training.

"I thought I might teach school," she said. "I was not proficient in typewriting."

She was nearly 60 at the time. Some people would consider enrolling in college at an age when many people are looking forward to their retirement a brave and ambitious undertaking.

Edna, however, was not intimidated by the thought of joining younger classmates.

"I felt at home," she said. "I was used to having children that age.

"I had two girls in college then."

In two years, Edna graduated from EWC with an associate's degree. She spent the fall semester of 1981 attending classes at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, but chose not to return because of the cold temperatures in Laramie. She began taking classes from Chadron State the spring of 1982, earning 16 hours that semester, 12 through the summer, 14 in the fall and another eight the spring of 1983.

She said personal reasons kept her from continuing her education until the 2006 spring semester when, at age 86, she decided it was time to earn the nine credits she needed for a bachelor's degree.

"I decided I could handle that," Edna said. "I'd finish so I can say I have my degree."

She enrolled at Chadron State where, through the school's self-study correspondence courses, she was able to earn a bachelor of arts degree with a major in interdisciplinary studies (What she calls “a duke's mixture”) without having to travel from home.

Edna said by the time she was ready to complete the degree, there was no point in getting a teaching degree because in Nebraska a person is not allowed to teach after age 70.

Completing writing assignments and relearning word spellings were difficult for Edna after so many years out of the classroom, she said.

"I had to look up the longer words in the dictionary," she said.

The instructions given with the Chadron State correspondence courses were "very understandable," Edna added.

Basically, she would read an assignment, follow instructions, answer questions, and receive answers and helpful critiques.

She also took an ethics telecourse class through EWC that involved watching videotapes, reading books and doing assignments independently. When Edna broke her arm on the way to the college to pick up her textbooks, her instructor, Ellen Creager, helped Edna with the coursework at Edna's home.

"She's a very, very smart lady," Creager said. "She understands what goes on and can relate it to you more than other students can because she has so much life experience."

Though Edna chose to stay at home in Torrington rather than risk winter travel to Chadron for the graduation ceremony, she is no less proud of her achievement and is looking forward to the day when her diploma arrives in the mail.

"I think I'll feel more like (a scholar) when I get it in my hand," she said.