.
Turning 93 this October, my Dad is one of two recipients of the ‘Lifelong Learning Award’ presented to him by Dr. Scott McLean, Director of Continuing Education, University of Calgary.
In the past two years, he has taken courses from the Calgary Seniors College, co-organized by the U of C Continuing Education and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Courses my Dad has taken include Computer, Chinese History, and Chinese Medicine. Here’s a glimpse of yesterday’s Graduation and Award Ceremony.
No published work, no writing aspiration either. Just a learner… for life. Maybe that’s achievement enough.
***
Ripple Effects 
No maybe, Arti. That IS achievement! You must be very proud! Congratulations.
LikeLike
As a university employee, I think this accomplishment is quite awesome. Learning for life. Love it.
LikeLike
Your Dad is living proof of the strength, courage and integrity of “the Greatest Generation”. Thank you for sharing this wonderful story and Congratulations on a remarkable achievement. Very heartwarming.
Kathy Pooler
http://krpooler.wordpress.com
LikeLike
Hats off to your Father for such great achievement. This is one good example of living life to the fullest and loving it.
CONGRATULATIONS – ARTI’S DAD!!
LikeLike
Arti, that’s wonderful! Congratulations to your father – he surely has influenced your love of learning as well.
Learning for the pleasure of it – what could be better?
LikeLike
What a happy, uplifting post. Congratulations to your dad!
LikeLike
Good for you Arti’s Dad! Congratulations! What an inspiration! Like father, like daughter/son?
LikeLike
Oh that is a wonderful achievement for sure! Congratulations to him. He has a wonderful smile and countenance :0)
LikeLike
How wonderful! Learning for learning’s sake is a lesson for us all. Hearty congratulations to your dad–he’s an inspiration!
LikeLike
Thank you all for your very kind words and warm thoughts. It’s my pleasure to share this exciting event with you.
To quench any curiosity about the ‘like father like daughter’ query, here’s my take. My Dad is a WWII veteran. He’d served in the British Navy in Europe on D-Day, not at Normandy, but close enough. While Arti’s exposure to that piece of history is just by sitting on the couch to watch John Wayne star in The Longest Day, I admit I’ll never be able to emulate such toughness and determination. I’m afraid his ‘can-do’ spirit just remains as his own personal trait.
It’s interesting to note too, that it’s after he’d turned 90 that my Dad started taking courses at the newly established Calgary Seniors College. Just shows that it’s never too late to improve and enrich oneself through learning.
And for my love of reading, I owe that to my mother. An avid reader herself, she’d introduced me at an early age to the wonderful world of books. Unfortunately, due to poor eyesight and the onset of dementia, she has not been able to pursue her interest these past couple of years. Comes October, she’ll be 91.
A note about the Calgary Seniors College. It’s the joint effort by the U of C Continuing Ed and the local Lutheran Church, under the direction of Rev. Peter Chau. The purpose of the College is to serve the many seniors in the Chinese community, using Chinese as the language of instruction (except ESL classes of course), thereby removing the major obstacle for them in their pursuit of higher education. It has been expanding quickly since its inception. This project is an inspiration in itself.
LikeLike
Oh Arti, thank you for sharing this great news about your Dad! quite an achievement and an inspiration! Hearty congratulations to him!
Deb
LikeLike
That is so totally awesome! Congrats to your dad. You must be pretty proud of him.
LikeLike
Congratulations to your father, Arti! A life-long learner for the love of learning is the very best kind.
LikeLike