NANTICOKE, Pa. -- It’s a familiar feeling for Ted Geffert, putting on his cap and gown for graduation. However, this time he has a title he hasn’t had in the past.
He’s Luzerne County Community College’s oldest graduate.
“As long as I stayed on earth, I had to become 82, I had no other choice,” Geffert joked.
He earned his associates degree from Luzerne County Community College in Computer Information Systems.
When he first enrolled back in school, his family wasn’t surprised.
“At my age now, most of my family they just expect it of me. I mean they just know that I do these things,” Geffert said.
His love of learning is obvious. He was the principal of Crestwood High School for 17 years and passed on that passion to his students.
“What do you do with your spare time when nobody's around? That's what is going to make you a success,” Geffert said.
This is actually Ted's fourth degree, including a masters in teaching math and science from the College of William and Mary.
“That's the important part I think of education, the awe moment. When you go into a class and you don't understand it and then you work on it and you get in the morning and you say, ‘Oh! That's what it meant,’” Geffert said.
With 82 years of life experience behind him, Ted said he’d give this advice to his fellow graduates.
“It's not achieving the goal it's the process of getting to achieve it. That's what counts in life,” Geffert said.
He walks across the graduation stage at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday at 6 p.m.