One Santa Clarita Valley woman has seen it all. From both World War I and World War II, to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and 9/11, 98-year-old Doreetha Daniels has lived through most of the 20th century.
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“Everything we read about in our history books, you’ve seen haven’t you,” asked KHTS AM 1220 Afternoon Drive-Time DJ T-Katz who interviewed the Agua Dulce resident on Wednesday.
Daniels replied to T-Katz’s question with a “Well, yes.”
Daniels was born on April 25, 1916 and graduated high school in 1934 in Nebraska, according to a College of the Canyons news release. She is currently taking Math 075 at the COC Canyon Country Campus.
“I’m having a hard time with it because it’s been 63 years since I’ve taken algebra even,” said Daniels in the news release. “But I’ve still learned a lot of new things, including basics like comparing costs and prices. It’s a whole new world.”
Daniels is majoring in social science and is driven to school Tuesdays and Thursdays by her son, according to the COC news release.
“They asked me what I was interested in and I was thinking about social and people, so I just said social science,” Daniels said, adding that the reading is easy but the math is the difficult part.
Daniels has a tutor in The Learning Center at the college to help with the statistics class.
“Fortunately, the teacher takes a hand and I can go in once a week and I can work with her but otherwise I would just be out in the cold because I don’t know what I’m doing,” Daniels said. “I had to learn how to use a calculator, a different one than the little one I balance my checkbook with.”
T-Katz asked Daniels about the pros and cons of going to COC at her age.
“It’s just the environment with all these young kids, I just feel so out of place,” Daniels said adding that the positive part of going to school is it gives her something to do.
When asked about her most memorable memory, she answered “the birth of my children.”
“My children said it was good for me and to go for my degree,” Daniels said. “Sometimes I said I won’t finish but they said ‘Oh yes, you are.’”
While Daniels doesn’t plan to use her degree the way most college students do, she says she’ll “put it in memory book” as an accomplishment.
COC News Release About Doreetha Daniels
With a surrounding community of students typically ranging in age from 18 to 24-years-old, Daniels is without question an outlier.
Seemingly thoughtless tasks such as driving to school and scaling the Canyon Country campus’ many stairways take considerably more effort to coordinate for Daniels than the average young adult.
Up until 2013, Daniels was still driving herself around Santa Clarita, but was forced to give up her license following a minor health scare. She’s now escorted to campus by one of her sons, who is retired.
In the classroom, predictable challenges have arisen.
“Of course the age is going to be a factor,” said COC instructor Claudia Reyes. “She has displayed difficulty hearing and keeping up with our pace at times. Keep in mind though that some students have told me she has served as an inspiration for them as a motivator.”
Daniels is attempting to nullify her physical disadvantages in the classroom through meticulous preparation. Every Tuesday and Thursday morning the 98-year-old can be found studying her homework at the campus’ Tutoring Learning Center (TLC).
Daniels says that her one-on-one time with TLC tutors has helped her greatly.
Unfortunately, she’s pretty much on the outside looking in when it comes to mastering the technological aspects of both the tutoring facilities and online homework components.
“I enjoy getting emails, even if I don’t answer back,” said Daniels, smiling. “Even the advertisements on the side are interesting. But as far as surfing the internet goes, I don’t know how.”
It’s hard to blame Daniels for her lack of computer savvy when putting her life into perspective — the COC student was 38-years-old when Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was born in 1955.
Currently, the 98-year-old’s Statistics 075 class is embarking on concepts such as curvilinear graphs and probability. As part of her required classwork, Daniels will participate in a group project.
Daniels will not have to complete a difficult midterm exam to pass her course, and according to Reyes remains, “one of the most dedicated and hard working students in the class.”
Regardless of her outcome this semester, Doreetha Daniels’ quest to receive a degree in her old age is an inspiring testament to the value that past generations have placed on education. Books may cost between $100-400 a semester, but the ambition it takes for a 98-year-old woman to return to school after six decades cannot be tangibly defined.
The age 98 may just be the new 21.
Listen to the whole interview with T Katz: 98-Year-Old COC Student On KHTS – November 20, 2014
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Great interview great lady
Never have seen her at the senior center she is too busy
Good for her
Thanks for sharing her story