A 105-year-old receives her degree after waiting 80 years

Virginia Hislop was 105 years old when she finally received her master’s degree from Stanford University. Back in 1941, just before she handed in her final thesis, she left school to marry her then-boyfriend George. He’d been called to fight in World War II. I had the opportunity to talk with Hislop about her accomplishments — and her advice for others. 

VH: My name is Virginia Hislop. I was born in California 105 years ago. And I’ve lived in the Yakima Valley since 1946. I graduated from Stanford University. I took a year of graduate study to get my teacher’s degree. And I’ve served on state boards, the local community college board and the local school board here in Yakima.

 PP: And what year did you graduate?

VH: Well, actually, I did all the work for it in 1941. And I had the official confirmation complete with a very nice certificate just this past June.

PP: What made you seek out getting this degree over 80 years later?

VH: My son-in-law decided to poke into it because I had said I’d done this work and did not have a degree to show for it. And so he contacted the Stanford department of education. And sure enough, I was entitled to the degree. Come June, when they were handing out certificates, I got mine. 

PP: The degree — what does it mean to you?

VH: Well, it means that I have a son-in-law who was interested enough to poke around and find out what happened. 

PP: You did the work over 80 years ago, you don’t need the degree to show for it. But are you happy that you have it now? 

VH: Yes, I am.

PP: What would you say to people who are thinking about getting a degree now? 

VH: Well, I hope that they’ve talked to people in their specialty to find out actually, whether there’s a need, whether it’s exciting, what’s actually involved. Because I think lots of people have beautiful ideas but have very little connection with the actual reality. 

PP: Any good studying tips? 

VH: Find something you enjoy and find challenging. 

PP: Virginia Hislop, thanks for talking with me.

VH: Thank you so much.