First-Gen pursues degree one course at a time

Times were hard when Sallie Gillespie grew up. As she tells it, there was no running water, no indoor plumbing. Her mother raised four children after her husband passed away.

"We were poor," she explained.

Then she started school.

"I just saw that there were other things out there, and from the time I started school at 6, I was just intrigued," she said. "I wanted to learn, and that's all I've done. All my life I want to learn more and more. There's a saying that says knowledge is power. I don't care about power. I just want to be the best I can and as smart as I can, because that's just me. I'm not competing with anybody. It's just me. I want to be intelligent. I want to be knowledgeable so I can discuss things with people. That's just what I want to be. I'm going to have to work for it, and that's just what I'm doing."

Gillespie is a psychology major with a Spanish minor, living in Gainesville, Georgia.

"When I started, I thought the people at school were going to look at me and say, 'Why doesn't that old lady just stay home and listen to her arteries harden?' Because if I were in their shoes and I saw me, that's probably what I would have thought. But they don't understand how badly I've always wanted to learn."

People do make a fuss about her because of her age and the spry Gillespie dismisses it.

"I'm not special. The only difference in those people and me is my age. I'm doing the same work they're doing. I'm having to follow the same rules," she said. "I have this friend of mine that thinks I'm just the best thing since sliced bread because I'm doing this at my age. I don't see it. I just see me as a person who wants to go to college and get a degree. That's all I see, but apparently other people see other things."

Gillespie, now 73 years young, has four classes left to compete her degree. She takes them one at a time, so she has time for doctor visits, part-time jobs and her dog. She said her professors and classmates have been supportive and credits them, along with a tutor for helping her pass her toughest course.