“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 1960s. 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 . 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 .

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. “����ֱ�� is important. It’s a good thing to remember.”

Sloan will graduate from the College of Arts and Sciences with a , with interdisciplinary studies 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.”

Fenton is a U.S. Navy veteran who served onboard the United States ship John F. Kennedy (CV-67) from 1972 to 1978.

During his service onboard the Kennedy, Fenton was part of the “ships company,” and was responsible for the storerooms, which served more than 5,000 sailors.

This included snacks, cigarettes and retail shops as well as the barber shops, dry cleaning, and laundry.

He spent 17 months in the Mediterranean, six months in the Caribbean, and three months in the North Atlantic. Among his favorite memories of his time in the Navy are the countless ports of calls where he was able to interact with residents. In retirement, he has been able to visit many of these same places.

Originally from Trumbull, Connecticut, Fenton, who is also a retired Xerox chief information officer, has been in Louisville since 1995.  

Fenton is a at UofL, a program that offers students in Kentucky who are 65 years or older the chance to take a select number of classes for free at any state-supported institution. The program, which started in 1976, can count toward a degree or simply be for fun.

Although he has a bachelor of science in computer science and economics, the last 20 years of Fenton’s career were spent as a manager and leader, and he was not actively involved in the hands-on technologies.

Taking classes at the Speed School is helping him achieve his goal of getting educated in newer technologies, he said. Getting back into education was a big change and he has found it to be both challenging and rewarding.

With the knowledge and skills Fenton is gaining in the program, he intends to build tools, games, or applications for mobile.

Fenton said that Ibrahim Imam, an associate professor in the computer science and engineering department, has always been available to help and provide suggestions throughout the program.

He and his wife have four children and eleven grandchildren.

Fenton believes it is very important to continue to learn no matter your age and he is intent on setting a good example for his grandchildren. He said UofL has given him an opportunity to learn something new almost every day.