Lifelong Learner: Great Grandmother Graduates with Psychology Degree

At 79 years of age, Anna Pedford is the definition of a lifelong learner. On December 17, she will participate in UNT Dallas commencement ceremonies – 60 years after first stepping foot onto a college campus. “It’s been a fun ride,” Pedford said.

Her two children can’t believe it. “They say, ‘Why can’t you stay home and watch soap operas (like other senior citizens)?’,” Pedford said. Her six grandchildren love it. “They are excited and proud of me.” Pedford’s six great grandchildren have yet to express their opinions.

As Pedford prepares to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology, there’s one thing on her mind, other than finishing her Capstone. “I want to leave a legacy,” she said.

It is a legacy decades in the making, which took many twists and turns, before culminating at UNT Dallas. Pedford was born in Marshall, in East Texas, and moved to Dallas with her family when she was five. She attended public schools and in 1964 enrolled at Texas Southern University in Houston after high school, with plans to major in psychology – a rarity for a young Black woman at the time. “I always had a thing for psychology. It came to me at an early age,” Pedford remembered. “There were not enough Black psychologists.”

Even Pedford’s parents warned, “There’s not a future for you,” she said. They hoped she would choose a more practical (her words) career.

But Pedford hates being told what to do. “I don’t like anyone telling me I cannot do anything,” she boasted.

But after one academic year at TSU, Pedford wanted to leave. “I begged my parents to come home,” she said. Everyone was partying and Pedford couldn’t concentrate. “I was totally distracted from studying,” she recalled with disappointment.

Back in Dallas, Pedford put her education on hold and got a job at Southwestern Bell as a directory editor, which required great attention to detail. She worked on the Houston phone book, updating names, addresses and numbers. Two years later, AT&T took over and Pedford left the company.

She decided to take a few classes at El Centro College while substitute teaching in the Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD). Later, she went full-time at Dallas ISD, working as a teacher’s assistant, a testing monitor and other roles before earning her teaching certificate.

“It was amazing,” Pedford said. “I taught every level and worked at Emmett Conrad when it opened (referring to Emmett J. Conrad High School in northeast Dallas, named after the renowned Black surgeon who broke barriers in Dallas). “I thought maybe teaching is for me,” she said with a smile.

Around 2000, Pedford moved to Yvonne A. Ewell Town View Center, where she taught at all six magnet schools on the campus.

At some point, Pedford got the itch to back to school again herself. While visiting Mountain View College, the registrar’s office told her she had credits from TSU and El Centro and that she only needed a few more to earn her associate’s degree in psychology. The more she progressed, the tougher things got. “I was about to quit,” she said of most challenging time at Mountain View.

Her “really nice” classmates and teachers helped her succeed. Several professors were so impressed by her writing, they asked if she had ever thought about writing a book or a screenplay. “They said ‘You’re not old. Your mind is sharper than some kids’ (in her classes),” Pedford explained.

Her mind is so active that she often wakes up at 2 or 3 a.m. and writes notes about her vivid dreams. “I get visions of characters, names, storylines,” Pedford said.

After graduating from Mountain View College in 2019 as a 74-year-old honor student, Pedford continued her education again, this time at UNT Dallas. She has been taking remote classes since she started, including electives ranging from statistics to nutrition. Once the pandemic slowed and the campus reopened, she has been visiting the Learning Commons twice a week to study in peace and quiet.

Her favorite instructor has been Dr. Adrian Tan, a senior lecturer in criminal justice and sociology. “He wants you to succeed,” said Pedford.

Now in the final stretch of her collegiate career, finishing her Capstone, Pedford acknowledges she has lost friends who she said bullied her because of her love for learning. “I am enjoying my life not by sitting home watching Judge Judy,” she said. “People can’t determine your destiny; you determine your own path.”

After some dental surgery and recovery from a recent fall that left her in a wheelchair, Pedford plans to enter graduate school at UNT Dallas in 2025, once again studying her favorite subject, psychology. She would love to be a criminal profiler but wants to wait and “be realistic and see what fits best.”

Being in a wheelchair is “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to face – and I’ve had obstacles,” Pedford said. Following Commencement, she’ll continue physical therapy with hopes of walking by the time Spring semester classes begin on Jan. 6. She is determined to take the next steps in her educational journey on her own, not riding on four wheels. “I feel pretty good about it,” she said.

One additional motivator for Pedford is Michael Jackson's music. He’s her favorite artist. And as she prepares to turn 80 in April, it is easy to say that her life as been a real "Thriller."