Stark County woman acquires college degree at 69
PLAIN TWP. – Saundra Turpin describes herself as a woman who loves education and likes sharing the knowledge she gains with others.
On Sunday, she’ll enjoy the fruits of that passion when she receives her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education through the University of Arizona’s Global Campus.
The entire curriculum was online. “I’m not tech-savvy, but I have children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who really helped me out,” she said.
The 69-year-old mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother has devoted her life to young children.
“I worked in early childhood education for 40 years at Head Start and at Canton City Schools’ preschool,” she said.
Turpin owns and runs her own daycare center, Mi Amore’s House.
“Where we love to learn and learn to love,” she said with a smile.
In the 1980s, Turpin enrolled at the University of Akron while working at Head Start, “but I put it on hold.”
In 2001, she reenrolled, this time at Stark State College when family tragedy struck. Her daughter Tevya Durnes became hospitalized and died, leaving behind two young children, 7 and 8, who Turpin took in and raised.
During her daughter’s illness, Turpin missed a month of school but managed to finish the semester with a B average.
“I decided to wait (for school) when they turned 16, but 16 issued a whole lot of different problems,” Turpin said, laughing. “I just put it on hold. I knew one day I’d be able to do it.”
Turpin credits her daughter Tanzeah Sharpe with encouraging her to take the plunge.
“I told her, I don’t know — I’ll be 70 when I finish, I don’t know if I can do it,” Turpin recalled. “But she said, ‘You’re going to be 70 anyway.’ I said, ‘That’s true.’”
Turpin said she was able to transfer a year and a half’s worth of credits from the University of Akron.
“My main desire is to acquire knowledge and to be able to respond to anything,” she said. “I’m an education advocate; I believe that’s my calling. I’m thirsty for it. I want to pass what I have on to others. It wouldn’t be any good to keep it.”
‘Yes you can, and yes you will.’
Sharpe, an associate professor of early childhood education at Ashland
University, describes her mother as a generous and giving woman.
“She is a very selfless person who has devoted her entire life to supporting other children and families, and not just her own,” Sharpe said. “Whether she realizes it or not, she is a role model for so many people. She has been my strength and backbone my entire life.”
Sharpe recalled that when she was pursuing her own doctorate in educational leadership, her mother was a source of confidence.
“When I was getting my doctorate, I was very afraid and nervous,” she recalled. “They gave me this big, threering binder, and I told my mother ‘I can’t do this.’ She just calmly leaned back and said, ‘Yes you can, and yes you will.’ That’s been our family motto ever since. When the tables turned and she’d get frustrated with the technology, I’d tell her ‘Yes you can, and yes you will.’”
Turpin said the biggest adjustment to college in 2021 was indeed the technology.
“Make sure you have a support system,” she said. “If you’re over 60 and not tech-savvy, it can cause a lot of frustration. I’d be typing for three or four hours a night, and bump something and lose it all. It was crazy but I got through it.”
Nonetheless, Turpin tells people that if they want to pursue their education regardless of their age, they should do it.
“It’s never a waste,” she said. “We should strive to empower our lives with knowledge and love. You can’t give away what you don’t have.”
Turpin said she supports the idea of free universal prekindergarten as recently proposed by the Biden administration. The children currently in her care range from 6 weeks to 7 years old.
“Not just for the children,” she said. “Some of the younger mothers need some support and education. Maybe they could add a component for parents.”
She cites Frederick Douglass’ famous quote: “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
“That’s what keeps me going,” she said. “I want to be able to give all that I have.”
Sunday’s graduation ceremony will be virtual. Sharpe is hosting a luncheon for her mother and 40 others at the Doubletree by Hilton in downtown Canton, where the ceremony will be broadcast.
Family and friends from throughout Ohio, Georgia, Pennsylvania, California and Nevada will be tuning in.
Turpin already has her graduation gown and mortarboard.
“I might just fly away,” she said. Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @cgoshayrep
“(Turpin) is a very selfless person who has devoted her entire life to supporting other children and families, and not just her own. Whether she realizes it or not, she is a role model for so many people. She has been my strength and backbone my entire life.”
Tanzeah Sharpe, an associate professor of early childhood education at Ashland University