When you think of college graduates, you typically think of the next generation of leaders who are young, fresh, and vibrant. Senior citizens are certainly not the first group to come to mind. One man defied the norm and graduated from college in South Carolina just days before he turned 80, showing that it is never too late to achieve a dream.
An almost 80-year-old man was a part of South Carolina State University’s most recent graduating class on May 9, 2025. Sam Watson, who reported on the huge feat for the school’s Bulldog News newspapersaid that Riddick went to college not for a career, but “for clarity, for purpose and to honor a legacy that moved him.”
Riddick, who turned 80 on May 12, found his career on his own, without a college degree. He started out his adult life by serving in the military. He fought in the Vietnam War and then started his own business.
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He told Watson, “I went to the military. I did my time and came out. I went to the VA, got some money, went on my own, had my own business — sold souvenirs and such — for about 30 years.” Riddick retired at the age of 72.
During his retirement, Riddick decided he wanted to pursue a college education and chose SC State for a very specific purpose. “I was just passing through the college once, and I heard some men talk about the Orangeburg Massacre,” he said. “I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to have to come here, put my name on this institutional wall because of the sacrifice of these three men.’”
History.com summarized the Orangeburg Massacre, saying it “occurred on the night of February 8, 1968, when a civil rights protest at South Carolina State University (SC State) turned deadly after highway patrolmen opened fire on about 200 unarmed Black student protestors. Three young men were shot and killed, and 28 people were wounded.”
Riddick decided there was no looking back after that, and a few years ago, he enrolled at SC State. This meant he drove roughly one hour each time he went to campus for his commute from Summerville, South Carolina, to Orangeburg, where the school is located.
Riddick, who was a fixture in the school’s choir, received his bachelor’s degree in music industry. The president of SC State, Alexander Conyers, honored Riddick at the school’s commencement ceremony, saying, “Mr. Riddick at 80 has been fully engaged with the student experience, singing on this choir, performing at concerts. Mr. Riddick, you inspire us all.”
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Everyone has the stereotypical image of college students being young and fresh out of high school in their mind, but this is not necessarily the full picture. The National Center for Education Statistics reported that there were 55,755 students aged 65 and older enrolled in “degree-granting institutions” in 2011. Surely, the number has only increased since then.
Pavel Danilyuk | PEXELS
Many people think of college as the stepping stone to a good career, making it moot once you reach retirement age. This is not true, though. College is not just about a career, as is evidenced by these older students who already had successful careers without a degree. Instead, it can be about bettering yourself.
This is something that Riddick believes in strongly. “I came here to keep my mind and body updated,” he said. Riddick will likely not be pursuing a career now that he has graduated, but he has still grown in innumerable ways.
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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
