An exceptional 82-year-old retiree, Mae Beale, has inspired many across the world after earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), reported CNN affiliate WJLA.
Mae Beale received her certificate just a day after celebrating her 82nd birthday. According to a news release by the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), Mae Beale returned to school in her late 70s to pursue a Bachelor’s degree.
She had already spent several years working as a licensed practical nurse in Washington DC, United States.
“Over her long career as an LPN in Washington, D.C., Beale worked at Health care and government agencies in the area, including Children’s National Hospital, the National Naval Center (now Walter Reed National Military Medical Center), the Washington VA Medical Center Hospital, and later joined the Department of Health and Human Services,” the statement read.
“It was at the Department of Health and Human Services’Centress for Medicare and Medicaid where Beale’s career pivoted toward business and event planning,” the statement continued.
Mae Beale opined that her supervisors thought she had something special as she organized large events while she was working at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
In 1994, at the age of 54, Beale started her own event-planning business and started working toward her associate degree in Business Management at Howard Community College, according to the release.
Beale received her diploma alongside 3,300 graduates from the classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022, Bob Ludwig, assistant vice president of media relations at the university, told CNN. She completed her coursework in the class of 2020, but the school has not held an in-person graduation ceremony since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Beale, who participates in several local boards in Maryland as a community advocate, told the university the degree has given her a greater sense of self-confidence: “I knew that if I had the degree, it would solidify things and make me feel more comfortable.”
