In a weekend full of pomp and circumstance, with thousands of college students graduating around Middle Tennessee, one student in particular stood out: 87-year-old Lorraine Guth.
Guth got her master’s degree this weekend from Tennessee State University.
A few days before graduation, she
walked into TSU’s bookstore
on a mission.
“I’m supposed to get a cap and gown,” she said, wielding a graduation form. “I’m 4-feet-9, if that helps.”
Guth was born in 1928, and she said school was particularly hard for her growing up. She had assumed higher education just wasn’t in her future.
“It always stuck with me that I wasn’t bright enough for college,” she said.
Over the next several decades, Guth pursued a number of careers: She worked as a legal assistant, a realtor, a private investigator and a gospel singer.
Then, in her 60s, she decided she wanted to give college a shot. She got her bachelor’s at 74 from Georgia State University. And this weekend, she got her master’s in criminal justice. She said it’s a longtime passion.
“I always found people when the police couldn’t find them,” she said. “I’m a born snoop.”
She said she uses her education every day, but she’s not looking for a job in the field. Instead, she’s hoping to come back to TSU in the fall to get a doctorate in education.
“I figure I’ll probably be in my 90s when I get that,” she said.
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