83-year-old woman proves it's never too late to go back to school

Social Affairs

Published: 19 Feb. 2024, 18:27

83-year-old woman proves it's never too late to go back to school

Kim Jeong-ja, left, 83, the oldest person to take the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), takes part in an entrance ceremony for Sookmyung Women's University in central Seoul on Monday. Kim will become a freshman majoring in social welfare at the university’s Future Education Institute. Born in 1941, Kim had to flee when the 1950-53 Korean War broke out around the time she entered elementary school. [NEWS1]

Kim Jeong-ja, 83, the oldest person to take the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), matriculated at Sookmyung Women's University in central Seoul on Monday.

Kim will major in social welfare at the university's Future Education Institute.

Born in 1941, Kim had to flee when the 1950-53 Korean War broke out around the time she was in elementary school.

To achieve her lifelong dream of completing her higher education to live a life without regret, she pursued studying hangul at Yangwon School, a lifelong education center for housewives, in 2018 and continued her studies at Ilsung Women's Middle School and High School in Seoul.

She raised three children and also has overcome back surgery.

Kim chose Sookmyung Women's University because it is the college her granddaughter graduated from.

"My granddaughter boasted every day that her school was the best," Kim said.

Her granddaughter jokingly told her, after hearing news of her acceptance, "Now you are my junior."

Kim said she wants to "talk to a new generation of students and get help with studying English" when asked by reporters what she looks most forward to in her new college life.

Kim Jeong-ja, right, 83, the oldest person to take the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), speaks on Monday at the entrance ceremony for Sookmyung Women's University in central Seoul, seated next to Chang Yun-keum, the school’s president. Kim will become a freshman majoring in social welfare at the university’s Future Education Institute. Born in 1941, Kim had to flee when the 1950-53 Korean War broke out around the time she entered elementary school. [NEWS1]

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]