Hazel Soares, 94, Prepares To Graduate Mills College

Hazel Soares, 94, Prepares To Graduate Mills College

Hazel Soares takes lifelong learning to a new level. The 94-year-old California woman, who has worked as a homemaker, a nurse and an event organizer, will graduate Mills College this year with a degree in art history. She will become the second-oldest college graduate in America, after Nola Ochs, who finished For Hays State University at the age of 95.

The San Francisco Chronicle
has more on Soares's amazing journey:

And what could also be a record of sorts, Soares paid for her education at Mills with benefits provided by her late husband Ellsworth Soares' GI benefits - from World War II.

But setting records isn't what motivated Soares to renew her lifelong quest for education when she enrolled at Chabot Community College in the mid-1980s.

"I've always had a basic curiosity about how to do things, whether it's a (cooking) recipe or identifying pieces of art in historical context," she said.

Post-graduation, Soares, who has 40 grandchildren, hopes to be a docent at a museum and resume her daily swimming practice.

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