- A 72-year-old grandma has stunned the world by graduating from a university she dropped out of 50 years ago
- The determined woman went back to school and finally graduated at the age of 72
72-year-old Darlene Mullins was the former Miss New Jersy and Miss Glamour runner up. In 1962, the woman made moves to earn a degree in Tennessee State University but her dreams got dashed shortly after she began.
She fell in love with John Mullins, a senior from St, Louis in Missouri whom she described as dashing handsome and everything to behold. She thought of him as the finest thing walking on the campus.
According to TSU Newsroom, they had gotten married after courting for a while. Mullins simply said love got in the way; their 54th wedding anniversary would be in August.
72-year-old Darlene Mullins.
Her husband completed his degree program in 1964 and she in turn took on the role of taking care of their home and raising the family.
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“I came to TSU because I ran track. I wanted to go to the 1964 Olympics. Wilma Rudolph was my idol and I was on my way. I get to TSU and meet the great coach (Ed) Temple, but we bumped heads, because I had to make a choice between his track team or John Mullins,” She said.
Her husband worked for many several corporate and government agencies before he started Lions Group Inc, his company. The company is a marketing and advertising agency in Dallas, Texas.
Despite having lived in six different states with her husband, Darlene never gave up on her academic aspiration.
“Something kept nagging at me. I always told my children to make sure they finish what they started and I kind of felt it was time to live up to my own advice,” she said.
“John did not hesitate for one bit; he said ‘let’s go,'" she said.
In 2013, the couple relocated back to Nashville to allow Darlene return to TSU and get a degree in interdisciplinary studies.
“My goal was to come back and finish at Tennessee State. I didn’t know at the time how long it was going to take, I just knew I had to do it,” she said.
The 72-year-old grandma took as many as twenty credit hours a semester and was able to maintain top grades. Despite gathering twenty five credits before dropping out in 1963, the determined woman is completing her college work. She is a member of three honor societies and she is graduating with the highest distinction.
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Darlene would be part of over eight hundred graduates from various disciplines that would be attending the undergraduate spring commencement in the William Jasper Hale Stadium in the university’s main campus.
Darlene with John Mullins, the love of her life.
“I am really looking forward to this. I am very excited and just overjoyed to see this day. My graduation from college, for me, confirms that I completed what I started more than 50 years ago. I am happy,” Darlene said.
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