For avid traveler Larry Sloan, his education journey is like rafting trips he has taken.
“You can hear rapids before you get to them or sometimes see them,” he said. “You start to think how you’re going to get through them, and then you turn the corner and get through them. It’s sort of similar to life.”
Sloan’s journey began at Princeton University in the 1940s. After two years, he had to withdraw to help out his family business. Like the river he describes, life continued to ebb and flow. He took courses at Butler University, changed jobs, took courses at Indiana University, changed jobs again – but never finished his degree.
Now at 83, UofL is giving him that opportunity.
This December, Sloan will graduate with a bachelor’s degree thanks to the Donovan Scholars Program. In Kentucky, students 65 and older can take a select number of classes for free at any state-supported institution within the commonwealth.
The world has changed drastically since Sloan began college. He remembers the first personal computers that ran on punch cards. Now, he’s finishing his degree entirely online.
But for Sloan, earning his degree isn’t just about checking a box. He spent most of his life as a crafts salesman, traveling and selling fabric, yarn and other art supplies. His education was an education built by doing. Those experiences, he said, enriched his academic work.
“If you like what you are doing, you will like it more after becoming better educated,” Sloan said. “It’s a good way to improve yourself, learn how to do a better job and become a better person.”
Sloan says continuing to learn – at any age – is part of what keeps him energized.
“I think it makes you happier because you’re learning about the world,” he said.
He often thinks of a quote from actress Olivia de Havilland, who lived to be 104. When asked the secret to a long life, she replied: “love, laughter, learning… and stairs.”
“That’s always stuck with me,” Sloan said. “Education is important. It’s a good thing to remember.”
Sloan will graduate from the College of Arts and Sciences with an interdisciplinary degree in communications, creative expression and humanities. His communications courses taught him some of the theory behind his job as a salesman.
“It’s not just the words when we communicate,” he said. “It’s the gestures, the body language.”
Better yet, Sloan is just as much a part of campus and the Louisville community as any student. He’s an avid Cardinals sports fan, holding courtside season tickets to women’s volleyball. He also regularly attends baseball, men’s and women’s basketball games.
Sloan is a proud member of the Rotary Club of Louisville, which has more than 400 members and is the 13th-largest club among Rotary International’s 45,000 clubs. The club sponsors scholarships, hosts guest speakers and supports humanitarian efforts.
“It’s a bunch of do-gooders doing good in the community,” he said.
Sloan has watched more than a dozen graduations of his children and grandchildren over the years. On Dec. 12, many of them will come to watch him take his turn. And when the moment comes to cross the stage and receive his diploma, he said one emotion comes to mind: happiness.
“I’ll be very happy,” he said. “And I think I might even continue taking courses here after.”
