Two classes at a time with very few breaks, Minnie Payne plodded her way through college.

At age 73, Payne received her bachelor’s degree in general studies from Texas Woman’s University on Saturday.

“It’s going to be bittersweet,” she said. “Because I like a challenge, if I don’t get another challenge there’s going to be a void.”

Now the retired transcriptionist plans to venture into journalism.

Payne, of Carrollton, began college in 2002 at Brookhaven College and transferred to TWU in 2003.

She took only two courses each semester, including the fall, spring and May terms and two summer sessions.

Because TWU’s general studies program offers some flexibility, Payne was able to tailor her degree toward English and journalism.

Payne took some courses in mass communication before TWU dropped that program in 2004. Then TWU officials allowed Payne to take three journalism courses at the University of North Texas. She also took several English courses at TWU.

Dr. Hugh Burns, chairman of the TWU English department, said Payne was a delightful student, and she obviously enjoyed college.

“She kept in touch with us through her whole experience, so we could savor it with her,” Burns said.

She came in to college determined to become a professional writer, Burns said, so he was happy to accommodate her desire to take some journalism classes from UNT.

Dr. Tracy Everbach, a journalism professor at UNT and adviser to the student newspaper, the North Texas Daily, said students welcomed Payne in their classes.

“At first, students looked at her like, ‘Is that my grandma?’” Everbach said. “But then the students really enjoyed having her in there. She could point out things to them that they had never heard of.”

Payne said students always treated her with respect.

“It never came into the picture, the fact that I was a senior citizen,” she said. “In some ways, the faculty appreciated the fact that I was older, because I was seasoned.”

Payne said she attended Anderson Junior College in South Carolina during the 1950-51 school year because her sister paid for it. During that year, she took mostly trade courses.

After that year, Payne left school and went to work as a transcriptionist, before the invention of word processors. After she married and had children, she stayed home with them when they were young.

After her children were older, she returned to work.

In all, she spent 25 years as a transcriptionist for different insurance companies.

At age 67, she retired, and at age 69, she returned to school.

Her studies included Internet classes, which didn’t exist in her first college stint.

But that wasn’t the hard part.

Payne said volumes of material she had to memorize for her biology, history and government classes proved to be the most difficult part of college.

She plans to work part-time for the online news site Pegasus News.

She said her husband, Dale, has been incredibly supportive of her effort, and she recommends college for anyone who is retired.

“If they want to improve their life, it [college] is definitely a great way of doing it,” she said. “It’s a part of my life I wouldn't trade anything for. It’s been a happy four years.”

MATTHEW ZABEL can be reached at 940-566-6884. His e-mail address is mzabel@dentonrc.com.