Skip to content
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Happy News

What This Great-Grandmother Did At 90 Proves It’s Never Too Late

Maryette McFarland from Londonderry became the oldest of more than 300 graduates at the Open University’s ceremony in Belfast on Tuesday, finally earning her English Literature degree at age 90 after a 70-year journey that began in Dublin back in the 1960s. The great-grandmother had originally started her studies at Trinity Dublin but dropped out when love intervened, choosing to get married instead and later raising four children while her degree remained an unfinished dream she never stopped regretting. After recovering from a car accident years later, McFarland decided she had a bit of time to spare and wanted to do something meaningful, so she enrolled with the Open University to finally complete what she started seven decades earlier. Despite admitting she’s “very bad online,” McFarland received wonderful support from her family including four children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, with her daughter-in-law even teaching her how to type so she could manage the online coursework.

Her eldest daughter Shauna Gailey accompanied her mother to the graduation ceremony and said she’s incredibly proud, describing how McFarland used to sit on her sofa surrounded by piles of books with her laptop and tablet in front of her, throwing herself fully into her studies. The entire family came to Belfast for a big family lunch before watching Maryette walk across the stage, celebrating not just a degree but a testament to determination and patience that spanned most of her lifetime. McFarland’s lovely tutor provided tremendous support throughout her journey, helping her navigate the challenges of studying in a digital age when technology wasn’t her strongest skill. Her message to anyone who thinks they’re too old to learn new things is simple and powerful: if she can do it, anybody can do it, because it’s never too late to achieve your dreams no matter how much time has passed.

PrevPreviousThis MUSHROOM-Powered Toilet Changes Everything

Recent Articles

Happy News

The Career Pivot That Nobody Believed In

October 21, 2025

Neil Newbon, the beloved voice and motion capture actor behind Baldur’s Gate 3’s iconic vampire elf Astarion, revealed in a recent TEDx Talk how performance capture work in video games literally saved his life after he fell into $45,000 worth of debt and years of struggling to find acting work.

Read More
Happy News

Professor’s Secret Gift Changed Student’s Life

October 21, 2025

When Silvana Clark’s parents moved to another state in 1971 right after her high school graduation without asking where she would live or if she was going to college, she found herself completely alone with barely enough money for tuition and toothpaste. Her high school drama teacher George Meshke, who

Read More
Happy News

You Won’t Believe What MIT Scientists Just Invented

October 21, 2025

Researchers at MIT’s Singapore-based enterprise have developed a groundbreaking automated tool that can rapidly scan thousands of biological samples to detect tiny chemical changes in RNA molecules that control how cells grow, adapt to stress, and respond to diseases like cancer and antibiotic-resistant infections. The revolutionary system solves a major

Read More
« Previous Next »
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2025 HappyNews.