TORONTO —
She’s a mom of 4, grandmother of seven, and now the oldest individual to obtain a grasp’s diploma from York College.
Varatha Shanmuganathan, 87, obtained her masters of arts from the Ontario college on Tuesday afternoon in a digital convocation because of the pandemic.
“I’m humble and proud,” she advised CTV Information.
It’s truly Shanmuganathan’s second grasp’s diploma, however though her achievement at this age could appear stunning to some, her household stated it’s in keeping with the lady they know.
“We’re very pleased with her,” Priya Merritt, her daughter, advised CTV information. “However we’re truly not shocked. She’s at all times talked about how age will not be a barrier in life, similar to race and gender shouldn’t be.”
Born in Sri Lanka, Shanmuganathan’s love of studying was inspired by her dad and mom.
“I used to be the one daughter and there have been three brothers,” she stated. “I used to be handled the identical means. They knew I used to be somebody who was studious and wished to be taught extra.”
She went off college in India, returning to show in Sri Lanka, the place she met her husband, additionally a instructor. The couple quickly left for jobs in Africa and England.
“We have now lived in several cultures, completely different nations, completely different climates,” she stated.
And he or she’s seen the consequences of struggle in her personal nation, and in Ethiopia when its civil struggle started within the Nineteen Seventies.
“We had been proper there in the midst of it,” she stated. “We watched it.”
Shanmuganathan says these experiences, coupled with the teachings of Gandhi, the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela, led her to pursue her second grasp’s diploma at York. She wrote her analysis paper on the civil struggle in Sri Lanka and the prospect of peace.
“All of us human beings must be handled equally,” she stated. “That is the message I need to give.”
Her subsequent plan is to put in writing a guide — proving that age is really only a quantity.
With recordsdata from Alexandra Mae Jones
