105-year-old receives overdue master's degree after 80 years of educational service

STANFORD, Ca. (TND) — After more than 80 years of serving in education, Virginia "Ginger" Hislop finally got her time in the spotlight by earning her long-awaited master's degree.

At 105 years old, she celebrated and accepted her diploma for her master of arts in education at Stanford's 2024 commencement ceremony Sunday.

"My goodness," Hislop said while donning her cap and gown. "I’ve waited a long time for this."

In the 1940s Hislop had taken the required classes at Stanford but just before turning in her final thesis her then-boyfriend got called in to serve during World War II which prompted the two to get married, she told Stanford during an interview.

The new direction led her to assist in the war effort and focus on raising a family.

"I thought it was one of the things I could pick up along the way if I needed it and I always enjoyed studying, so that wasn’t really a great concern to me — and getting married was," Hislop explained.

Along the way, her children inspired her to join the school board to have more of a say in what they were being taught.

Her various roles includedchairing the Yakima School Board of Directors; becoming a founding member of the board of directors for Yakima Community College, and helping to start Heritage University in Toppenish, Washington, where she served on the board for 20 years, according to Stanford.

Now, Hislop says the degree is an appreciation of the many years of hard work she put in for schools in the Yakima area and on different boards.

"I’ve been doing this work for years and it’s nice to be recognized with this degree," she said.