UNCG's Most Senior Student
"What does it feel like to be famous?" a student asked Harry LeGette in UNCG's new food court at Elliott Center. She had seen his photo in a display on campus that featured him as UNCG's most "senior" current student. He will be 73 in October and will finish his second undergraduate degree, in Classical Studies, before he is 75. That's the age at which his mother took her last university course, also at UNCG, in Music.
Classical Studies is in some ways a surprising choice for Harry. His previous education and experience had been in science, technical fields, and business. He has a BS in Textiles from Georgia Tech and an MBA from Wake Forest. Through correspondence courses, he became an officer in the National Guard and prepared himself for an almost-certain call-up to Korea by volunteering for six months of training at Fort Sill. He became an artillery battalion intelligence officer and narrowly missed being called to Korea.
Including his work as a co-op student at Georgia Tech, two tours of duty at Milliken Textiles, and 30 years at Glen Raven Mills, he had 50 years experience working in textiles and one year in aircraft. At Glen Raven, he advanced through several grades to become group industrial engineer over three mills, and, finally, technical director of the Glenspun and Custom Fabrics divisions.
When Harry decided to return to the classroom after he retired at 68, he did it with the thoroughness of the time-study engineer he had once been in the work world. He set out 3 pages of goals and strategies for succeeding at his new enterprise. "The kids here are sharp," he says. "I didn't want to look foolish."
An Important Goal was to Choose a New Direction
An important goal on his "return to school" prospectus was to choose a new direction. He decided to focus on a liberal education, particularly languages, and he ultimately plans to do yet a third undergraduate degree in Spanish ("we're all going to need to know Spanish," he says). With characteristic thoroughness, he reasoned that he should study Latin first, as a foundation for studying the Romance Languages.
He also decided to prepare himself mentally and physically for a return to academics. He had read a study that showed the body has a "diving response" to time spent holding one's breath underwater: the carotid arteries (which carry oxygen to the brain) increase 20%. Harry put himself on a regimen in the pool at a nearby Y where, with the help of a weight belt, he slowly built up the capacity to do 70 underwater laps in a session--almost a mile--one lap at a time. "I don't know if it helped my brain a bit," he laughs, "but the side effects [physical strength and stamina] were great."
Harry knew how a side-effect could be as valuable as a primary benefit. He had read that cumulative hours spent listening to high-frequency Baroque music could train the ear for new frequencies and thus relieve tinnitus, a ringing in the ears that he had suffered from since adolescence when a bolt of lightning struck near him. He discovered that a surge in energy accompanied the benefit to his hearing; this too was helpful to a person planning to return to the rigors of university classwork.
His Wife Helen Encouraged Him to Enroll
The first classes he took were actually not rigorous; they were 6-week Emeritus courses offered by the UNCG's Division of Continual Learning. His wife Helen had seen the notice for two classes she knew would interest her husband--one on Venice and another on health in aging adults--and she encouraged him to enroll. Helen had been an adult student herself when she earned her M. Ed. and Ed. D. in Counselor Education at UNCG.
Emeritus classes do not have exams or bring college credit. Although he enjoyed them, Harry thought he needed a directed plan for study and the discipline of courses taken for credit. "Tests have a wonderfully focusing effect," he says. He confesses to being "a little uptight" before the first Latin exam, "but it went OK." He has now finished five semesters of Latin and it was "tough," he admits. "The average verb can have 260 forms." Only about one in three beginning Latin students completes all four basic courses straight through in two years, he notes.
He has taken additional courses in Classical Studies, Anthropology and History. He recognizes his Latin teacher, Linda Danford, as one of the best teachers he's ever had, and also praises Dr. Kenneth Caneva's history course, "Darwin and the History of Evolution." He plans to begin his Spanish courses before he finishes the Classical Studies degree, to get a running start on a Spanish major.
The Hardest Thing: "sticking my foot in the door"
The hardest thing about coming back to school was "sticking my foot in the door," Harry says. "The people have been great. The kids are nice to me, and the professors have welcomed me." Adults should not be tentative about coming back to school, he counsels: "They should relax and enjoy it. They can be comfortable from the first because the school wants them to be here, and they will have plenty of adult students as company."
Harry usually takes two classes a term and comes to campus three days a week from Burlington. He sits in the front row where he will see and hear everything clearly. In addition to his schoolwork, he continues to keep himself fit in the gym, still doing handstands as he once did for the Georgia Tech gymnastics team ("only now I do them in the corner," he laughs). His formula for success--planning, discipline, preparation, and perseverance--will work for a student of any age, from 18 to 80.
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Page updated: 06-May-2009
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