90-year-old cancer patient receives college degree

SCREENGRAB from WBTV News video footage

Graduating from college is no easy feat, but doing it at 90 years old while battling cancer is truly something else.

Lois Ewart, a native of Moorseville, Alabama, became a proud graduate of Samford College in Birmingham, Alabama last Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

Citing a report from Carolina-based WBTV News, Ewart, who dropped out of school during World War II due to some financial trouble, was just a few credits shy of receiving her diploma and decided to earn the rest online.

Accompanied by her daughter, the oldest graduate in Samford College history traveled to Birmingham over the weekend to accept the diploma on-stage, in front of hundreds of other graduates.

“They treated me better than the Queen of England. They kept acting like it was so strange that I would be doing this at 90 years old,” Ewart was quoted in the report.

She also admitted to have had her fair share of struggles over the last few years, after battling and beating breast cancer.

However, the fresh graduate is still not in the clear as she’s currently in the middle of a fight with uterine cancer.

“They’ve [the doctors] told me that they’ve done all they can do for me, but I’m at acceptable levels now,” she said of her recent status with the disease.

Despite her health issues and advanced age, Ewart remained determined to achieve the status of a college graduate—more than 70 years after she dropped out.

“The whole experience was unreal. I felt like I was in a dream,” she added.

Now that she’s achieved a life-long dream, Ewart playfully suggested she’ll be joining the workforce soon.

“I thought maybe I would look around and see if maybe a CEO position would come across,” she said with a chuckle. “I’m open for that.” Khristian Ibarrola/rga