Oldest graduate keen to keep going
Thu May 12 2016 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Oldest graduate keen to keep going
12 May 2016
At 84, Nancy Keat is the oldest of the University of Auckland’s May graduates.
“I don’t want to spend my time going on senior citizen bus trips,” says 84-year-old Nancy Keat, this year’s oldest University of Auckland graduate.
A Freeman’s Bay resident, Nancy is graduating with a postgraduate Diploma in Art History, having completed a Bachelor of Arts in the subject, with a minor in European studies. And she hasn’t finished yet.
She has enrolled for a one-year Masters degree focusing on public art in Auckland, a groundbreaking area where very little research has been done.
No longer driving, she’s been travelling all over Auckland by bus and train looking at examples of public art and says she could “do a masters on public transport and good cafes”.
“It’s great. I’ve been able to go on the train to places like South Auckland which I really like and not only has fantastic public art – especially murals - but good coffee as well.”
Originally trained as a primary teacher, Nancy went into teaching to avoid a job her parents had lined up for her at what was then the Papakura Borough Council.
“I was expected to fill in time before finding a nice man and getting married.”
After her three children grew up, she started taking courses in art history at the University’s Centre for Continuing Education.
In 2003 when she was 71, a tutor suggested she enrol in a degree and she still remembers her first exam “with huge satisfaction”.
“It felt like a marathon but I was hooked. I discovered I liked doing the research, it was like a treasure hunt.”
Her first degree took eight years to complete, doing one course per semester and attending summer school, while the diploma has taken four.
“My son says he doesn’t know anyone who’s taken as long to get a degree as me, but I haven’t got the pressure of time,” she laughs.
“I feel sorry for those young students who have to get it all done so quickly.”
She says at first the essay format and some of the new technology was a challenge but she was never made to feel out of place by her younger classmates.
“In my undergraduate course especially, there were quite a few of us mature students. I do remember one trip to the art gallery when a student thought I was the lecturer and kept asking me questions.”
However she is one of the few older students to continue to masters level, which she thinks is a shame.
“By this stage, you’ve got used it and I don’t think I’ve found it harder because of my age. I’m fortunate to be in good health.”
She says keeping intellectually active has been very important for her mental health and the process has been as important as the end goal.
“I’m scared of stopping, I’m enjoying the journey too much.”
Nancy’s thesis will focus on the role of public art in Auckland and its relationship to the city’s ethnic diversity.
She expects to complete her degree in July 2017, graduating with a Master of Arts in September.
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