BEND, Ore. — With her pink backpack, jeans and sneakers, Billie Gibson in some ways is like many other Central Oregon Community College students. But a couple of things set her apart: She’s 79 years old, and she’s getting her associate degree in June in computer information systems.
“I’ve got more A’s than B’s,” she said modestly. “You’re never too old to learn something new.”
Gibson started taking classes in 2005, paying for them as she could. This spring, she’ll finish up.
Gibson travels from La Pine two days a week for business communication and speech classes. Next term, though, she’ll be at the college Monday through Thursday for classes in stress management, cultural anthropology, drawing and fitness first-aid.
It’s a big course load, but the four classes will give her the credits she needs to finish her degree.
She’s required to take the first-aid class, and she thought stress management might be interesting. It’s also in the same building as the first-aid class, which means she won’t have to run across campus from one class to another.
“Parking’s a premium,” she said, laughing.
