By Kenndra Roberts
The Scene staff
Robert Babione’s age is often the first thing people notice at Forest Park.
“I’m asked by the younger kids if I’m a professor a lot,” said the 76-year-old culinary arts major. “I find it OK, though. It’s refreshing.”
Babione is one of many “older” students at Forest Park. Some have returned to college to improve their career prospects. Others are looking to stay busy after retirement.
“I want to open my own catering company,” said Pauletta Portis, 51. “Being a student at my age can be very challenging, but a made-up mind creates success.”
Some 410 students 51 and older attended Forest Park last fall, according to the latest statistics. That was about 7 percent of the total and 185 fewer than the previous year.
Incentives for older students include the Missouri Senior Scholarship and discounts for district residents. Forest Park also participates in the Plus 50 initiative, a national program with courses and “life transition” counseling services.
“I consider myself a reader, and being a student here allows me unlimited library access,” Babione said. “The senior-citizen discount was a nice perk as well.”
Retired educator Leoma Hopkins is studying culinary arts at 82. Her daughter, a St. Louis Community College recruiter, helped convince her to return to college.
“After retiring, I got bored and needed to do something that I always wanted to do to enhance myself,” Hopkins said. “I always wanted to learn fancy cooking, so here I am.”
The college experience is vastly different than it was when older students were in high school or college, mainly because of technological advances.
It’s also challenging for some to share a learning environment with students half their age. But criminal justice major Theophilus Peek-El, 60, also sees advantages.
“I am much more serious and attentive in the classroom now,” he said. “It’s more important to me than when I was younger.
“It has been exciting, working and learning with the younger crowd. They are much more open and radical in the way they express themselves, while us older students tend to pick and choose our words more carefully.”
Another criminal justice major, Shirley Lester, 59, likes being with younger students, who help her stay current on what’s going on in the world.
“My (34-year-old) son is forever asking me where I picked something up, and I tell him, ‘The kids at school taught me,’” she said. “I told him recently that someone was thirsty.”
Beyond their differences, most younger and older students share the goals of learning and self-improvement. Getting to know the next generation gives Peek-El hope for the future.
“I now see that the youth are very capable of running this world,” he said.
Hopkins considers herself a student for life, both inside and outside of the classroom. She recommends that young people develop the same philosophy.
“Turn over all stones in life because you never know what’s under them until you turn them over,” she said. “The ability to learn is a gift from God and should always be taken advantage of.”