BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. – Delores Whack, 67, is on a mission to prove that it’s never too late to reach your goals. For her, that dream was to obtain a college degree for the very first time. She did just that last month, earning a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of South Carolina in Columbia. She graduated with a 3.5 average.
“At my Dec. 12 graduation, when I heard my name called, I was so emotional, but I kept smiling. I still go back and observe it [the ceremony] online every chance I get,” Whack told The Berkeley Observer. “People would ask me why I was going back to school, or tell me that, ‘you are too old to return to school.'”
After graduating from Macedonia High School in 1973, Whack said she wanted to go to college but couldn’t afford it at the time. Instead, she moved to Massachusetts and began working at The First National Bank of Boston.
She eventually moved back to South Carolina and later retired from the South Carolina Department of Transportation in Columbia. Still eager to pursue a college degree, she finally had the financial means and the time to focus on her goal. She took her first college class in 2015.
“I only took one class because I wanted to test the waters. I had a great professor. She was in her late 20s and working on her doctorate. She told me not to waste my time, that I had great grades and to go get that degree. I will always remember her, this young person telling me to keep going, so you can be motivated by anyone.”
Whack gradually began taking more in-person classes at USC. While it took nearly seven years to earn her degree, Whack never gave up. She kept her eyes focused on the prize: her degree.
“God is good! I was motivated to reach my goal because I knew there were young people including my grandchildren observing me,” she said.
The determined grandmother faced many challenges along the way, but she refused to let them hold her back.
“I think the most difficult challenge I had was passing the Praxis math exam. I needed to pass this exam in order to move on to my teaching internship. It was hard for me because I am not a math whiz, but I kept studying until I passed it!”
In the end, the hard work paid off. She said she now hopes to use her degree to be a positive role model for today’s youth.
“I see so many of our young youth going astray, I want to help as many of our young children as I can,” she said. “If there is one thing I could say to young people, it would be to don’t let what people say to you or about you modify your goals. Set goals and try your very best to achieve them.”
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