87-Year-Old College Student Rose Graduated: Facts

Story:

Never Too Old to Live Your Dream

An 87 Year Old College Student Named Rose

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned round to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?” I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze. “Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked. She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids…” “No seriously,” I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age. “I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me. Read more..

Analysis:

This inspiring story about Rose, an 87-year-old woman who returned to school to fulfill her dream of completing her degree and dying a week after graduating has been very popular and shared online since more than a decade now. Let us analyze the authenticity of it.

Origin

The story about the 87 year old college student named Rose is shared in many inspirational and self-help websites and is also published in many books of same categories. The story appears to have originated from the 1999 book ‘Chicken Soup for the College Soul: Inspiring and Humorous Stories about College,’ wherein it is published under the title “Never Too Old to Live Your Dream” by author Dan Clark.

Story and Author

The author Dan Clark is a professional motivational speaker and a primary contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books. The book Chicken Soup for the College Soul is a self-help book containing inspiring and humorous stories, poems and tales about college written by different authors. The current story is presented as author Dan Clark’s personal experience in college after meeting Rose. However, as I read it, the story of Rose appears like a fictional imagination of the author, also because of lack of verifiable records to say it is a real story. But again, we can’t be sure, because few people at that age have in fact attended college and graduated.

The Picture

The picture that comes with the Rose story actually shows 95-year old college student named Nola Ochs, who entered Guinness World Records as world’s oldest college graduate in 2007. Nola completed her graduation from Fort Hays State University with a General Studies Degree with an emphasis in History, and she graduated along with her 21-year old granddaughter, Alexandra Ochs.

Although the authenticity of Rose story is not clear, it sure is inspiring, that age should not matter when it comes to fulfilling our dreams.