St. Thomas Aquinas College opened 68 years ago, in 1952. Since then, it has seen thousands of students come and go, major changes to the campus, and an evolution in the way learning is conducted. Peggy LaTouche is 90 years old, and she took a course at STAC in 1979.

At the time, she was working for Allyn & Bacon, a textbook publishing company. LaTouche discussed an opportunity at the company that, if she “took a college course and got at least a B mark, they paid for the course.” She took advantage of the opportunity and took a psychology course at STAC.

She chose STAC because “it was local, [and] it was convenient to travel to.” LaTouche was initially “a little hesitant to go back,” as she was in her forties at the time and had been out of school for many years. However, she ended up enjoying the course.

On the differences between the school when she took a course and the school today, one main aspect is all the technology available to students. At the time, she recalled how nobody even had a cell phone.

The other aspect she discussed was the amount of classes available.

“Well today there’s so many new subjects that weren’t available… in the days that I went there the subjects you’re choosing today weren’t even on the list,” LaTouche said.

When asked if she had any advice for the students of today, LaTouche emphasized “The importance of education,” and urged students to “Continue your education, even after you graduate. Continue to take advantage of education offers,” as doing so allowed her to take a course at STAC long after she thought her education was over.