Eighty is the new 60

[deurbano]

29. Last semester, at 67, I returned to Berkeley to finish my BA. (Still working on it.)

I also do paid work (more than full-time), so was able to have a reduced schedule of 9 units, an accommodation not available when I first attended Cal (decades ago) as a working, single mother. Both classes were upper division. One was a Soc Theory class (covering Marx, Weber, Du Bois, Durkheim and Arendt), with two weekly lectures and two weekly discussions, while the other class (on mass incarceration) met just once a week, but involved a 20-plus page research paper. I commuted from San Francisco, and it was a pain hanging out for hours between classes, trying to avoid getting Covid. I wore a mask at all times, even eating my protein bars while masked.

The instructors told me I was one of the best students in both classes (earning an A+ in both), and that I made a major contribution to the discussions. As an older student, I actually read (most!) of the assigned reading, and attended all the classes, so that helped, of course! I had been really worried my fluid intelligence would slow me down, but after getting back into the swing of the academic experience, I found it hadn't deteriorated as much as I feared. (I mean, I wasn't quite on par with my younger self, but could still hold my own--and more-- with the yoots.) At the same time, my crystallized intelligence really served me well. I just knew more than they did about some topics, and was also better at analysis than most. (Mind you, this was sociology... not computer science, or math, or a foreign language, etc.... where I definitely would have been at a disadvantage.) In fact, the only relevant ability I had lost was being able to write by hand, and I gradually realized I would NOT be able to take the midterm and final essay exams in a Blue Book! (I haven't written by hand in decades, and I even get other family members to fill out forms for me!) So, I had to get an accommodation to use my computer for the in-class exams, and it was a bit devastating at first, to realize I had lost the ability to write... but oh well.

I even experienced my first school lockdown when some student with a gun was on the loose. (Go, USA!) This time my kids were texting to see how I was doing, instead of the other way around!

I DO recommend getting in good physical shape before undergoing a return to college. (I really began to work on that during the early days of the pandemic, since I was in crap shape.) And you can see that the leaders you mention--Biden and Pelosi-- are in very good shape for their ages, or really for any age. I mean, Speaker Pelosi is like the Energizer Bunny, and Biden's fitness is also (WAY!) above average for his age group.