“I was the Rodney Dangerfield of the class,” joked Kevin Cathcart as he referenced the American movie Back to School about an “old guy” going back to college.

Though he graduated officially from Trent University Oshawa, Mr. Cathcart had the opportunity to benefit from attending classes on both the Thornton Road Campus and the Peterborough Symons Campus, and said that each had unique lessons to offer to a student like him.

In Oshawa’s evening classes, Mr. Cathcart said that there were more mature students in a close-knit environment that was very engaging. Having started at Trent University Oshawa at the UOIT campus shared with Durham College, he said that it’s “even better now that Trent University has its own Thornton Road campus, where you see your people every day.”

On Symons campus, Mr. Cathcart found himself surrounded by many first, second, and third-year students from age 18 to 22. “They liked my world experience,” he recalled. “I became comfortable within a week, with help from the Academic Skills Centre and the students. The younger students provided me with tips on writing essays and managing the workload and I provided them with perspective from experiences like being in the Canadian Navy – they appreciated that.

“I think being at university in your late forties is interesting,” Mr. Cathcart continued, “because the professors are interested in how you relate to things. You bring perspective and you get perspective.”

Now that Trent University Oshawa is beginning to offer the Bachelor of Business Administration degree, Mr. Cathcart plans to continue his studies towards an honours degree with a minor in business while working full-time in his field in home health care and call centre management. He describes his ongoing university education as an opportunity to learn more and to look at the world from different perspectives - not just to gain a higher position in his career, but to become more worldly and tolerant of others. “I’m going to be 50, but I can still accomplish more,” he said.

Mr. Cathcart graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 during the Convocation ceremonies held on Symons Campus in Peterborough.

It’s never too late to pursue a university education and Trent is still accepting applications for September 2011.

Trent University Oshawa Thornton Road Campus offers year-round full and part-time studies in full-degree programs or in courses that combine with Peterborough Symons Campus degree-programs. Full-degree programs in Oshawa are now available in Business Administration, Anthropology, English Literature, History, Psychology and Sociology.

Courses are also available in Oshawa to combine with Peterborough campus course-offerings, towards degrees in environmental and resource science / studies, biology, cultural studies, economics, gender and women’s studies, Indigenous studies, international development, mathematics and philosophy. Other Oshawa course offerings include Ancient History and Classics, Computer Science/Studies, Geography, Modern Languages (French, Spanish, Mandarin) and Politics.