Decades-long degree: U of G student graduating over half a century after starting degree

More than half a century after starting his studies at the University of Guelph, Steven Potter is getting ready to graduate.

At 72 years old, Potter’s not like the other graduates who will cross the convocation stage this week.

His eight-year-old granddaughter is pointing it out too.

“She looked at me one day and said 'Grandpa, why are you graduating after Mommy and Daddy?' And I thought for a second and said 'Well, because I'm older and slower,”’ Potter says.

A 'MATURE STUDENT' AT 21

After dropping out of high school to work with the Ontario Provincial Police, Potter later returned to his secondary studies and applied for university.

He began his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1971.

“So I came in as a mature student at the age of 21,” he says with a smile.

In 1973, he was offered full-time work in human resources with the provincial government.

He needed money for school so he took it. At that point he had completed just 13 credits.

“But I always had this idea that I'm going to finish this degree,” Potter says.

In 2006, he re-enrolled.

Since then, he's been juggling full-time work with distance studies from his home in Lanark, near Ottawa – mostly taking one course per semester.

“It's good, I like the in-person [more],” Potter says. “I like the early '70s when class sizes were 30 and 10.”

CHANGES OVER THE DECADES

It's not just class sizes that have changed at the U of G.

The former livestock show ring transitioned into the campus pub when Potter lived on campus in the early '70s – a change he approves of.

"The headline in the student newspaper was something to the effect of 'The Bullring stays the same, it's the animals that change,” he says.

There have also been several different deans for the College of Arts.

Potter met with the current one, Samantha Brennan, while back on campus this week.

Steven Potter meets Samantha Brennan, the dean of his program. (Spencer Turcotte/CTV Kitchener)

“Students have as much to teach faculty as we have to teach the students,” Brennan says. “It really is a cooperative learning experience. And that's very much clear when you have a student who comes to the classroom with lots of experience in the world.”

But Potter never wanted to overplay that experience.

“When I was taking WWI history and other students online were saying ‘my great, great, great, great grandfather fought there,’ or WWII, I didn't say ‘well my dad fought in WWII,’” he says.

'FREEDOM 95'

With his schooling now done, Potter still has no plans to slow down.

“I'm on what I call the 'freedom 95 plan,'” Potter said. He recalled a recent conversation with his son-in-law, Cliff, where the two joked that they’d be able to retire at the same time — Steven at 95 years old and Cliff at 55 years old.

While the man who came in as a “mature student” is graduating a little more mature, he is also leaving a whole lot wiser and with the degree he came for.