Learning a pleasure for keen senior students

by Hilary Thomson
Staff writer

Back to school isn’t just kids’ stuff, according to the many B.C. seniors who
attend UBC free of charge every year.

Erica Thomson (no relation to the author) has completed more than 60 audited
courses in 10 years of study at UBC and says she studies for the pleasure of
it, taking three courses per term.

“I like to study about a place and then apply what I’ve learned by travelling

to the region,” says
the 79-year-old Thomson.

A former United Nations worker in Sri Lanka, Thomson has travelled throughout
India and other parts of Asia. She has taken courses in virtually every aspect
of Asian culture, from anthropology to religion.

“All my friends are under 50 years old,” says Thomson who describes typical
seniors’ get-togethers as boring compared to the stimulation of classes and
the energy of young students.

“I particularly appreciated Erica’s presence in Indian literature courses,”
says Acting Assoc. Dean of Arts Kenneth Bryant, professor of Thomson’s first
UBC class. “The literature deals with a wide variety of human experience and
there is no substitute for lived experience in understanding these texts —
Erica provided the class with a perspective few younger students would have
been ready for.”

In addition to audit courses, seniors take graduate and undergraduate degree
programs and unclassified courses that do not lead to a degree.

UBC alumna Fleurette Sweeney is pursuing a PhD through UBC’s Centre for the
Study of Curriculum and Instruction.

Sweeney, 70, says she was motivated to start a doctorate in 1995 “because
I wasn’t finished yet.”

A teacher of music and singing since 1950, Sweeney’s thesis looks at how singing
together in class affects children as learners.

“It’s just been fabulous,” she says of her experience as a senior student.
“I have access to equipment and the opportunity to learn new technologies.”

Sweeney is unaware of being perceived as “an old woman.” As for undertaking
a doctorate late in life, she feels she’s in a position to make a unique contribution
after a lifetime in the field.

A Sister of Charity, Sweeney adds that she would not have been able
to finance her studies without UBC’s policy of free education for seniors.

She expects to finish her thesis in 2001 and will likely do post-doctoral
work in the area of acoustical analysis as it pertains to singing and speaking.

“We’ve had very positive feedback from both faculty and other students about
seniors’ participation in classes,” says UBC registrar and director of Student
Services Richard Spencer. “They bring a unique perspective to discussions, whether
they’re studying for their own interest or to get a degree they’ve always wanted.”

Enrolment varies with an average of 80 students attending annually over the
last three years.

Any B.C. residents who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents aged 65
years or older can attend UBC without paying application, tuition or student
fees. Admission as a senior is not offered in areas such as Dentistry, Law,
Medicine, Nursing or any faculty or school where existing facilities and resources
are limited.


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