The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
A stranger to taking it easy in retirement
An 87-year-old keen scholar has returned to university – to begin work on his eighth degree. Picture: Steve MacDougall.
An 87-year-old Dundee man who left school “with nothing” has returned to university – to begin work on his eighth degree.
Alex Stewart returned to classes at Dundee University last week where he is studying for a liberal arts degree.
He left school at the age of 14 and did not return to education until his retirement at the age of 65. But he took to student life like a duck to water and has already earned seven degrees.
He said: “I suspect I’ll have my hands full this year, as I am entering directly into second year.
“Studying does become a way of life and a healthy way of life, as there are an awful lot of elderly people at a loose end.
“I just wished there were more retirees like myself in the class.
“It’s good to challenge yourself and also to challenge the young students. “There are no shortcuts in learning. “The biggest challenge you can face is educating yourself. No one was holding up a whip or a stick. I’ve come back because I wanted the challenge.”
Alex spent his military service as a radio operator in the RAF before working for most of his career as a surveyor across the UK.
Upon retiring, he seized the chance to return to education after seeing his sons pass through Dundee University.
He has obtained his previous degrees in subjects including sociology, philosophy, and town and regional planning from the universities of Dundee, St Andrews and Abertay.
“I was born in the days of the jute industry in Dundee,” he said.
“Both my parents worked hard and my father said to me, ‘You’ve got a good report, son, but you’ll have to leave school when you are 14 and go get a job’.
“These were the days when parents would have to pay for the academies so that was the end of me learning.”
In many regards, Alex Stewart is not unique. Thousands of students are starting university degrees this autumn — setting out on a new adventure in the process.
Few of them, however, are quite as mature as Mr Stewart. The 87-year-old is embarking on his eighth degree — an inspirational example to those half, not to mention a quarter, of his age.