DeFauw received her Bachelor’s degree in General Studies, after 71 years of enrolling into the college.
USA Today reported that DeFauw had started college in 1951 but dropped out to get married and have children.
After High School, she had earned a scholarship to Northern Illinois State Teachers College, which is now NIU.
In 1951, she enrolled and became the first member of her family to attend college.
Along the line, DeFauw left school, got married to her first husband, and had three kids.
Five years after the death of her husband, she remarried had six more kids, including two sets of twins.
The grandmother of 17 and great-grandmother of 24 said it was her family who encouraged her to return.
In 2019, she re-enrolled at NIU to finish what she started decades ago.
“Don’t give up. Even if you do quit, go back. Just hang in there. Keep learning. Keep giving thanks. It’s there for you. Just go for it,” she said.
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