Maryland woman receives college degree day after 82nd birthday

“I’m feeling excited, happy, energized,” said Mae A. Beale. “All the positive things that you can say when you have accomplished your mission.”

A Maryland woman is making national headlines for receiving her college degree the day after she celebrated her 82nd birthday.

“I’m feeling excited, happy, energized,” Mae A. Beale told WRC-TV last week. “All the positive things you can say when you have accomplished your mission.”

As reported by WSB-TV Atlanta, Beale worked as a licensed practical nurse before she returned to school in her late 70s to painstakingly pursue a degree in business management.

Beale celebrated her 82nd birthday on May 17. The next day, she walked across a stage in Adelphi to accept her bachelor’s degree from University of Maryland Global Campus.

Years ago, she had been employed at the Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid when she decided to transition into event planning.

“My supervisors thought I had something special,” she told WJLA-TV. “When I was working at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, I organized some large events, and everybody was impressed with it, so I started coordinating their IT information conferences.”

Beale decided to pursue her bachelor’s degree to improve In Grand Style, the event planning business she established in 1994. She earned an associate degree in business management at Howard Community College before enrolling at the online UMGC, ABC News reports.

“I wanted to make certain I had the time to devote to whichever class I was taking,” Beale told WJLA. “I was like the tortoise. Slow and steady wins the race.”

Beale, a beloved activist, is a member of several local boards and has reportedly spent the past 50 years supporting her community through civic engagement and volunteering. She received the Howard County Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 and was inducted into the Howard County Women’s Hall of Fame four years later.

In 2012, Beale also worked as a volunteer in Howard County for President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign. In 2016, she was honored with the Women on the Move Award by the Associated Black Charities.

Beale says “the sky’s the limit” now that she has earned her bachelor’s degree.

“You don’t ever, ever let people deter you,” she told WRC, “because people always want to tell you what to do, how to do, when to do. But you have to do you.”

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