She wants people to never give up!
A woman named Anniatha McMillan is living proof that there’s no age limit on chasing your dreams. According to Blavity, the 72-year-old North Carolina resident recently enrolled at Robeson Community College, pursuing her lifelong dream of earning her college degree. While it may seem late in the game for some, McMillan said there is no right time, encouraging others to just go after what they want.
Her journey has not come without its fair share of hardships. McMillan lost her husband in 2005 in a car accident that almost claimed her life as well.
“There was an explosion, and I had to be pulled out of the car. They cut the top off, somehow, I made it out alive,” McMillan recalled.
Her road to recovery was lengthy and McMillan took out a new lease on life, launching a ministry where people could attend church over the phone.
“People criticized it. But when COVID broke out, God began to say, ‘I’m changing things, come out of the building,’ and every Sunday, we were faithful to the Lord,” she explained.
Through the ministry, McMillan re-discovered her passions and even found love again, remarrying a “nice deacon man,” from Robeson County who is a farmer. It was her new love who encouraged her to enroll back in school.
“So I thought, maybe I’m not too old, I could still get my degree, and so I made up my mind to go back to school,” said McMillan.
She started out taking developmental English classes to prepare her for the work, her teacher Angela Lamb calling the senior scholar a role model.
“It is important to her to have completion. She’s a good writer and a good thinker…We are excited to see her move on to the next class, which will be English 111,” said Lamb.
In a recent school essay written by McMillan, she discusses her journey to happiness and why it’s the little things that matter most.
“There are different things that make us happy, such as being alive and well, which gives us an opportunity to smell the flowers along the way, and enjoying the sunshine while having fun at the beach can prove to be a prosperous life. Happiness is an emotional state that presents feelings of joy, fulfillment, contentment, and satisfaction, which enables people to enjoy a prosperous living. For example, happiness is sitting in the sunshine and going to the beach just to enjoy the water. Happiness is going fishing…because it gives a sense of peace and tranquility,” wrote McMillan.
After more than seven decades of life, McMillan feels she’s already found the key to happiness, which includes having good health, helping others when she can, and never giving up on your dreams no matter how many curveballs life throws your way, something she encourages others to do as well.
Congratulations Ms. Anniatha McMillan!
Cover photo: 72-year-old NC woman enrolls in college/Photo Courtesy of Anniatha McMillan/Blavity