Estelle Rees Arroyo, Sac State’s oldest graduate at 92
At age 92, Estelle Rees Arroyo has achieved many milestones in her lifetime. On May 22, she will realize perhaps her most significant - becoming a Sacramento State graduate.
Believed to be the oldest student ever to graduate from the University, the Grass Valley resident received her Bachelor of Arts degree in History at commencement ceremonies to a standing ovation at Arco Arena.
“I keep thinking I should have done this 70 years ago,” she says. “But everybody can say ‘if only’ or ‘what if?’ - life doesn’t work that way.”
Graduation isn’t the end of the road for Rees Arroyo. She plans to write a fiction novel about the adventures of a woman in the Gold Rush era, and she already has a plot in mind. One of her favorite courses was on the history of American women, she says, “because some of it was what I had lived through.”
As for Rees Arroyo’s decision to get a degree so late in life, she says: “I felt like it was a good idea not to let my mind get moldy. I think too many people, when they’re older, figure they’ll sit on the front porch in their rocking chair and watch the pine needles drop.”
Rees Arroyo’s family was in attendance when she received her diploma. Her children are proud of her achievements and played a role in helping her to succeed. At times, when arthritis in her hands kept her from typing school papers, Rees Arroyo’s daughter typed them for her.
When Rees Arroyo transferred from Sierra College in Grass Valley, Calif., with an Associate of Arts degree two years ago, her acceptance at Sacramento State drew national media attention.
For more information on spring commencement, visit http://www.csus.edu/commence/spring2009commence/. For media information, contact Sacramento State’s Public Affairs office at (916) 278-6156.