78-year-old woman earns degree from Carleton

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

But you can certainly teach a 78-year-old woman about classic literature.

From The Other Side

Jennifer Murphy, who has lived in the area for 23 years, joined her young classmates on Fri., June 16 as she graduated from Carleton University with a Bachelor of Humanities Degree.

“It’s very exciting,” she said of her graduation. “My education and career was in science, so to come back to school and do this is something I am quite proud of.”

Murphy grew up in Manchester, England. She said she had no interest at all in humanities or liberal arts courses. She participated in sports and was on her school’s girls basketball team. Although she loved science, she had little or no time to put into non-scientific courses.

“I failed English Literature in high school,” she said. “I just wasn’t interested in it at all. I was interested in science, and that’s what my career was in.” vad-Gita, Upanishads, Tao Te Ching; moving on to early literature such as Beowulf, Boethius, Augustine; European literature including Boccaccio, Michel de Montaigne, Don Quixote, Milton, Diderot; History of Western Music; History of Western Art; History such as Wollstonecraft, Burke leading to introduction to Canadian intellectual history and politics; some twentieth century literature e.g. Salman Rushdie, Ghandi. Take your pick,” she said. “I also studied French e.g. Molière, Chrétien de Troyes, and Renaissance authors, and ended up with a Bachelor of Humanities, High Distinction, Minor in French.”

Murphy went to university in London and earned a degree in Physics. She went back to Manchester to complete her Masters in Radioastronomy in 1966.

She moved to Canada in 1976 and worked for the Department of Natural Resources, specializing in Earth observation using satellite data. Although she had no interest in politics in her younger days, she would end up becoming a policy advisor for the Minister of Natural Resources in the 1990s.

She retired 16 years ago, and spent eight years making trips to Nepal to teach English to young women who were training to be trekking guides.

Although she was successful in everything she did, failing English literature “hung like a wet blanket over me,” she said.

While Murphy spent most of her life with no interest in literature, she now can’t wait to get her hands on books.

“The more I read and the more we studied, the more I fell in love with it,” she said. “And it has left me with a desire to read even more. I gave many of my texts to the College for future students, but since then, I have purchased two books, one on early philosophy – Lucretius: the Nature of Things; and Stephen Hawking’s follow-up book on The Origin of Time).”

Fitting in was one of the intimidating things about going back to school.

“I remember on the first day, going to class and wondering, ‘What are these 20-year-olds going to think of having a greyhaired old lady in their class?’ But they were all wonderful. Right from day one, we had wonderful discussions and dialogue in our class.”

Like many students, Murphy saw the social aspects of the university disappear when the COVID-19 pandemic started and classes moved to a virtual format.

5567 Manotick Main St., P.O. Box 567, Manotick, Ontario K4M 1A5

News and Editorial: manotickmessenger@gmail.com

Advertising and Marketing: garyhcoulombe@gmail.com

Website: www.manotickmessenger.ca

Staff/Contributors: Gary Coulombe, Larry Ellis, Skyler Fraser, Goldie Ghamari, David Hill, Wilson Lo, Jeffrey Morris, Greg Newton, Irene Staron.

The Barrhaven Independent is published every other FRIDAY in Manotick, Ontario. Letters will be edited for length, clarity and libellous statements. Display rates are available on request. The Barrhaven Independent is not responsible for the loss of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other material used for publication purposes.

“I attended several lectures and workshops through the Lifelong Learning Program at Carleton University, one of them on writing one’s life-story, and wrote my memoirs (“Our Family Had Big Dreams” – available from Friesen Press),” she said. “Another course was on Plato’s Republic. Professor Dr. MacIsaac invited anyone who was interested to join the Bachelor of Humanities program. Seemed like a really good idea! Fill in all those missing topics that didn’t inspire me as a teenager. What an adventure! Studying with people in their 20’s and knowing that I fit in with them in my desire to study.”

Murphy said the class studied the full spectrum of literature, from the earliest days through to the 20th century. Although classic literature to her classmates might be something written by J.K. Rowling, Murphy fell in love with ancient literature and the works of Plato.

“We covered topics such as: Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian early literature; early philosophy such as Plato and Aristotle; world religions such as Bible, Quran, Bhaga-

“That was an unfortunate thing for all of the students,” she said. “Especially in a program like ours, that group dialogue and interaction is a big part of the learning experience. You don’t get that with Zoom or a virtual class.”

Murphy is hoping that her experience and success can inspire other seniors to go back to school. She said she would recommend the experience to any senior who has the time and the capacity to take on going back to school. While learning is one thing, being able to be a part of the student body and make friends with people of all ages was what made the experience special for her.

“The relationship between me and the younger generation was excellent; and I want to promote the idea of seniors continuing their studies, either in a program such as this, or the Carleton University Lifelong Learning Program, which selects just a few topics.”

With her degree under her belt, Murphy is not sure what to do next. Shed has already had a great career, and she is certainly not looking to begin another.