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Grandmother and Granddaughter Earn College Degrees Together

A retired bookkeeper reignited a lifelong interest in archaeology with her studies

Courtesy Melody Ormond Three years ago, Pat Ormond was retired and bored. Her granddaughter, Melody, suggested she take up knitting. Or join a book club. But Pat wasn't interested. "I searched out the senior citizen clubs, and they weren't stimulating in the least,” says Pat, 75, who lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. "Nana [had become] a little bit of a homebody, so I was like, ‘All right, smarty pants. Come to college with me,’ “ recalls Melody, 22. Pat had never thought about going back to school to earn a college degree, but not long after Melody's challenge, she figured, why not? She had the time. She also had enough credits to start as a sophomore, given the courses she'd picked up here and there when she was younger, mostly at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga — where Melody was starting as a sophomore. The price was the clincher. Only $70 a semester, since . So grandmother and granddaughter became classmates. "It would keep me young, keep me active and definitely keep my mind going,” says Pat. Adds Melody, also of Chattanooga: “She's always been an inspiration."

Seeing Nana on campus

Pat grew up near the Etowah Indian Mounds, a 54-acre archaeological site in Bartow County, Georgia. She went there often, and her exposure to the ancient ritual mounds — the Southeast's best window into the culture of the Mississippians — spurred an interest in archaeology. Once she was old enough to work, she took a position at an accounting business. One thing led to another, and before she knew it, she had spent most of her working years as head of bookkeeping for two CPA firms. Those college courses she took were to help her become a certified public accountant, “But life just kind of got in the way,” she says. Pat raised two children. Then one day her son moved back home with his two children. Melody was one of them. "There wasn't that much money at the end of the month to think about me going back to school,” Pat explains. Once Melody suggested she return to college, Pat, pursuing a lifelong interest, became an anthropology major with a concentration in archaeology. "Being retired, I could study what I wanted to study,” she says. If you stop moving, that's when you're going to have problems. You have to keep moving. — Pat Ormond Melody was a psychology major, so they didn't share any classes, but they did see each other on campus now and then. AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe because of the pandemic. "That's one thing about COVID and taking online courses,” she says. “There's so much more reading. It's just not the same." Entertainment $3 off popcorn and soft drink combos See more Entertainment offers >

Having the drive to raise the bar

On November 20, 2020, Pat and Melody graduated together, then celebrated — just the two of them — with calzones. Pat earned more than a degree during her time at the UT Chattanooga. She was selected as the school's 2019-20 Senior of the Year in anthropology, and was — and remains — president of its chapter of the Lambda Alpha National Anthropology Honor Society. She also graduated magna cum laude. "I knew she had the drive,” Melody says. “I was proud to see her grades, but I wasn't surprised at all. She asked me so many times to read her papers, and after a while I was like, ‘Nana, what's the point? You're going to make [a score of] 105 percent on it. But I read them anyway." Pat encourages her “senior citizen colleagues out there” to audit classes in subjects they care about even if they don't want to follow in her footsteps. "The fact that you don't want to go for a degree should not keep you from taking advantage of the great schools we have around the nation,” she says.

Not stopping with one degree

Pat isn't saying goodbye to academia anytime soon. She wants to complete a project she started on campus just before hit. The project — mapping geographic information system locations for every archaeological site in Tennessee — had to be halted because it requires face-to-face interaction. And she has started working on a history degree. "It's really nice to see her flourish, to see how happy she is in an environment she loves and thrives and learns in,” says Melody. “She just won't stop." "If you stop moving,” Pat replies, “that's when you're going to have problems. You have to keep moving." AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS