Cyndy Burgess of Sharon joined just over 500 of her classmates in crossing the graduation stage to collect her bachelor’s degree from Franklin Pierce University Saturday, May 9.
In many ways, she was just any other student. She had completed her degree in four years, with a full course load. She had felt the bittersweet feelings of saying goodbye to her campus as she picked up her cap and gown, and decorated her mortarboard with the inscription “It’s never too late.” She had a bevy of family in the crowd, cheering her achievement.
She was also one day shy of her 81st birthday.
“It was one of the best experiences of my life,” said Burgess, in an interview with the Ledger-Transcript. “I had friends who said, ‘Why would you do it now?’ And I said. ‘I think I can.’ And, as time went on, I started to say, ‘And you can, too.'”
Burgess, as a fresh high school graduate, had enrolled in the University of Vermont, as a math major. In her freshman year, she met — or rather, re-met— Don Burgess, whom she had known as a childhood friend. The two fell in love, and just after the first semester of her sophomore year, Burgess left school to get married and start their family, soon welcoming the first of three sons she and Don would have together.
Burgess said it’s not a decision she’s ever regretted.
“In the 60s, it was considered far more important that the husband complete his education, but I was very comfortable and happy being a stay-at-home mom. I didn’t feel left out or alone,” said Burgess.
The couple became very involved in their community and with their sons’ activities. Don Burgess’ job eventually led them to settle in Sharon, and in 1985, the two started a printing business in Jaffrey. As their children started their own families, Burgess also became involved in her grandchildren’s activities.
With her youngest grandchild in high school, in 2022, Burgess said she had time to think about what she wanted to do with her time as her family grew up. And there was still a box left unchecked — that degree.
With the encouragement of her family, Burgess set out to find a school.
She said she knew she wanted a short commute, so she looked at programs at Franklin Pierce University and Keene State College. She said after a visit to the picturesque FPU campus, she knew it was the right place for her.
“I wanted to be more than just a number. I wanted to be someone on campus, wanted to know people by their names and have people call me by my name,” said Burgess.
She enrolled as a psychology major, saying that it fit with her love of people. Despite it having been decades since she took them, some of her classes from the University of Vermont were able to roll over. Otherwise, Burgess said, she took a regular full course load of four or five classes a semester, and went in with the attitude that she wanted to be treated like any other student, even though some of the students were the same age as her grandchildren, and some of her professors were young enough to be her children.
She made sure that she was getting the full campus experience, enrolling in on-campus classes.
She said it was intimidating at the start — in particular, she worried that she would struggle with computer skills, and felt a thrill of panic when she was assigned her first PowerPoint presentation.
But, she said, that’s where deciding to come to a small, tight-knit campus paid off.
“I found the students to be good friends, and they helped me through it. There were stumbling blocks, but they weren’t big, and they weren’t enough to stop me,” Burgess said. “I found it so comfortable. Just like a community, we worked together.”
Burgess said she even made a particularly close friend in a traditional student. They were in a freshman class together and became fast friends; thereafter, they made sure they had at least one class together each semester.
“It was what I was looking for. It was a community. It was what I wanted,” Burgess said. “I felt important on that campus, without being special.”
On Saturday, Burgess got to complete the final step in her university experience by walking the stage to collect her diploma.
She said every step leading up to it — going to collect her cap and gown, the honors ceremony where graduates receive their cords and accolades, the Baccalaureate ceremony, and her final time standing at the top of the hill overlooking Pearly Pond made the end of the journey more real.
And, despite a rainy sky, on Saturday, a large contingent of her family came out to support her and cheer when her name was called.
“Walking the stage was obviously the dream. To hear my name be called, even, it was a dream come true,” said Burgess. “I had my entire family there, even in the rain. They were loud and cheering.”
Having retired, Burgess said she isn’t likely to put her degree to use in a professional setting, but would like to apply it in her volunteerism — after, she said, a short break to enjoy her family this summer.
And, she said, she hopes her experience encourages others to remember the motto she inscribed on her mortarboard: “It’s never too late.”