At Age 75, Rebecca Inge Achieves Dream Of Graduating From HBCU After Having To Put It On Hold In 1965

WRAL-TV reports the 75-year-old is set to graduate from Shaw University. The celebratory moment marks 57 years since Inge’s initial time at the historically Black university. While Inge was pursuing a degree during her early days, she worked at the cafeteria in her school to pay for her tuition as she had aspirations to attend medical school one day.

“I always dreamed of going to med school because I was sick a lot as a child. I dreamed of being a surgeon,” said Inge, according to WRAL-TV.

Inge also was interested in engineering, but her educational pursuits came to a standstill due marriage and birthing of her daughter Marisa Ratliff Dunston.

“She put her life on hold so that I could finish my 21 years, all of my education, so that I could be successful today,” said Dunston, according to WRAL-TV.

Dunston previously had a long-standing career serving overseas in the U.S. military, and Inge would stay with her daughter following the passing of her husband in 2015. Despite the hard loss, Inge found the strength to return as a student at Shaw University. Luckily, Inge’s records were found by an employee at the enrollment office.

“The lady looked at me and she said, ‘I don’t know if we got your records,'” said Inge, according to WRAL-TV. “And I said, ‘Then find them!'”

Inge’s transition was not easy as adjusting to the world of e-mails and other technologies was an unfamiliar task. However, with some help from her daughter, Inge weathered through the storm and she can look forward to the finish line on May 8.

“You gotta live ’til you die, so why not be happy doing something that makes you happy and get involved,” said Inge, according to WRAL-TV.