Still Learning After 84 Years

Four bachelor's degrees, one master's and a doctorate are not enough to keep 84-year-old Jean Popejoy Floyd away from the classroom. Floyd, who will turn 85 on Halloween, has been going to college since the 1940s and is currently taking Audio Production in ASU's radio-tv department.

"The reason that I'm so dedicated to this is because I just like to learn," Floyd said. "It's not that I'm so smart; I just like to learn."

Floyd was born in 1922 in Cropsey, Ill., population 200. Because of her high results on a type of IQ test, Floyd was allowed to skip half of the third and fourth grades. She, therefore, graduated high school at the age of 16, in a class of 12 students.

"I've always thought even though it was a very, very small school, I still got a good education," she said.

After graduation, Floyd enrolled in college at Illinois State. Ironically though, she dropped out after only a year and a half because she was failing.

Concluding that college was not for her, Floyd joined the Navy in 1943 and did secretarial work throughout World War II. However, after leaving the Navy in 1947, she used her GI Bill of Rights money to give college a second try and returned to Illinois State. This time, she earned her first bachelor's degree in physical education.

Floyd used her degree for over 20 years teaching in public schools and universities. She then decided to return to school and pursue a master's degree at the University of Southern California.

"I just thought of the fanciest school I could think of," she said about choosing to attend USC.

After earning her master's degree, Floyd attended numerous colleges and universities throughout the states, including Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., the University of Hawaii and Oklahoma A & M (now Oklahoma State).

"I just wanted the prestige of the name of the university," she said.

Floyd earned her doctoral degree at the University of Illinois in 1969. Her dissertation was titled "The Effects of a Physical Fitness Program on Physiological and Psychological Measures of Anxiety."

In 1978, Floyd married for the first time at 52 years old. She married Joe Floyd, creator of the commercial printing business Creative Multigraphics on Highland Drive, and moved to Jonesboro.

She worked briefly as a secretary in ASU's speech and drama department and then began pursuing degrees at A-State. She earned a degree in technology and management, a degree in printing, and just last December, Floyd completed a degree in digital media design.

"One of my professors told me it was because of me they started developing this new major," the professional student said about digital media design. "I'm not sure exactly why."

With six degrees under her belt, Floyd is finally starting to slow down. She is currently auditing Audio Production, which means she does not take examinations or receive grades, but simply sits in the class to learn. It is Floyd's second time to audit this class.

"I just want to keep up with the explosion (of technology)," she said. "If I get interested in something, I just have to find out about it."

"Another reason I like to take classes is I like to be with young people," she said. "The people my age, I have nothing in common with."

However, at nearly 85 years old, Floyd is starting to fight medical problems and spends more time at home than at school. "I just love my yard and my house," she said. "I still do my yard work."

Floyd said she never really intended to use any of her latter degrees to pursue careers. The process of learning was always more valuable to her than the degree itself. Her last three degrees were all earned when she was over 60 years old, and tuition was, therefore, completely free.

Floyd's life has been, from beginning to end, about education, and she continues to believe in it today as much as ever. "They can take your life. They can take your friends," she said. "They can take everything away. But they can't take your education away from you."

Floyd said she is unsure whether or not this will be her last class.