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Great Granny Returns to Stanford For Master's Degree

Virginia "Ginnie" Hislop, aged 105, recently walked across the stage at Stanford University to receive her master's of education - 83 years after she left.


Virginia "Ginnie" Hislop receiving her master's degree from Stanford
Credit: Charles Russo | Stanford University

Although Hislop had previously completed all her coursework before she could turn in her final thesis her then-boyfriend George Hislop was called to serve in WWII - so she left and they got married.


Then, Hislop began raising a family, which now includes four grandkids and nine great-grandchildren.


Over the years, Stanford dropped its thesis requirement for the degree, meaning she had actually already completed all of its requirements - and that's what led Hislop to return to Stanford to finally pick up her degree, over eight decades after she left.


"False modesty has never been one of my problems," the matriarch told GMA, days after she received her master of arts in education earlier this month. "I felt I deserved it and I was delighted to get it."


So, a 105-year-old woman from Washington state has clearly proven that it's never too late to finish what you started. After the awards ceremony, she declared: “My goodness, I’ve waited a long time for this.”

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