Iris Peters
Iris Peters graduated from high school in 1949. Ever since, she has continually looked for new learning opportunities. She was in her sixties when she found Continuing Education's Fifty Plus courses--courses designed to interest people over fifty with free time during the day.
When she moved to Calgary in 1997, she immediately picked up a University of Calgary Continuing Education Program Guide. She had just settled into northwest Calgary, after choosing to leave Vancouver's rainy weather. A mother of four--all of whom had settled into lives and careers in different locations across Canada--Iris decided she would build her own life in Calgary. She didn't know anyone in the city and taking some classes seemed to her to be a great way to meet people and keep herself busy.
"I've always been a person who tried to take courses whenever I could," says Iris. "I like that it enhances your knowledge...and that it gets you out. I've met lovely people in my classes, and the professors...are really very good."
When she first began taking Fifty Plus courses she would take two per session, three sessions a year. Today, now in her 80s, she limits herself to taking one course at a time. "I don't like to get up early in the morning anymore, so I choose afternoon courses only," she says.
Iris has always liked history, art and religion courses best, but she finds she can always find a course she wants to take.
"If I'm not sure about the course description, I look at who's teaching. There are some professors I really like," she says.
"I believe it's good for me to be learning...and generally, I think it just makes my life a little fuller. I'll be continuing to take courses as long as I can," she says.
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