College Life of a Retired Senior: A Memoir of Perseverance, Faith, and Finding the Way

Seven years after retiring from the Royal Bank of Canada, ending a thirty-seven-year career, author Yvonne Blackwood surprised her friends and family by returning to school at sixty-four to pursue an English degree. She craved knowledge, but four powerful reasons motivated her: to add texture to her writing; to ward off dementia by exercising her brain muscles with her studies; to incorporate ongoing structure to her life by attending classes regularly; to inspire her two young grandsons to attend university full-time when they graduate from high school.  

 

Blackwood attends York University, Canada's third-largest university, and struggles with maintaining her established lifestyle, being in class with hard-to-connect-with millennials, and a shocking diagnosis in her final year. She stumbles upon several obstacles in her quest to earn the degree. They include two strikes at the university, one lasting 143 days; the lockdown of the campus when the WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic; and her hospitalization. The university's motto is Tentanda Via—the way must be tried. Blackwood weaves this theme and the metaphor of climbing a mountain into the narrative as her guiding light. When some situations become almost unbearable, and she thinks of quitting, she perseveres and relies on her faith. She writes, “What I didn't know was how much the pursuit of the degree would inform me, challenge me, satisfy me, and drive me to consider giving up on more than one occasion.” 

College Life of a Retired Senior is "An amazing tale of determination and resilience, told with humor and grace." —Marcia Trahan, author of the memoir Mercy

The book is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Chapters, and most major booksellers

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About The Author

Yvonne Blackwood is the author of four adult non-fiction books: Into Africa: A Personal Journey; Will That Be Cash or Cuffs? Into Africa: the Return; and College Life of a Retired Senior: A Memoir of Perseverance, Faith, and Finding the Way. She has also published three children’s picture books: Nosey Charlie Comes to TownNosey Charlie Goes to Court, and Nosey Charlie Chokes on a Wiener. An award-winning short-story writer, Blackwood has contributed stories to several anthologies, including Human KindnessCanadian Voices, and Wordscape. She has published articles in magazines including More of Our CanadaAdelaideInTouch, and Green Prints and has written columns for the Toronto Star, Pride Newspaper, and The African Connection.

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