Pandemic hasn’t shut down senior citizens’ thirst to learn

When Covid-19 hit central Ohio and Otterbein University had to shut down its Lifelong Learning Community in March, Deb Madden was devastated.

She’d loved the weekly in-person lectures for the over-55-years-old crowd that fed her brain with tantalizing tidbits of knowledge and allowed her to share her thoughts with others who were thirsty to learn. She understood why the program had to be on hiatus, but she longed for its return.

And return it did, as a slate of afternoon Zoom lectures that ran through the fall and are expected to resume in the new year.

“I’m one of those eternal students who likes to learn new stuff,” says Madden, 71, of Reynoldsburg. “I soak it up like a sponge.”

So does Mary Pat Knight, who is part of Lifelong Learning with her husband, Dr. Douglas Knight.

“Our goal is to continue learning throughout our lives,” says Mary Pat Knight. “It’s better than drink or drugs, really. You come out of the lectures so stimulated and wanting to transfer the information you’ve just heard.”

Both Madden and Knight miss the friends they’ve made through Lifelong Learning, and the lively conversations they’d have with others in the group after presentations.

“They’d have to kick us out of the room because people wanted to stay and talk to each other,” Knight says. “That’s the crux of it – the human connection.”

But they both appreciate that the presentations have continued via Zoom.

Usually Otterbein faculty provides the lectures, but sometimes community members are enlisted. This fall the selections ranged from a deep dive into the writings of Confucius by English professor Jeremy Smith to advice on how to be resilient from psychology professor Noam Shpancer to the role gold has played in the U.S. economy and history by retired metallurgical engineer Rich Tenaglia.

While membership in Lifelong Learning normally costs $60 a year (or $90 for two people), Otterbein didn’t charge for the online lectures in the fall. Anyone age 55 or older can join and members live all over central Ohio.

“If anyone’s sitting out there being bored, there’s no reason for that,” Madden says. “This helps you get out of the ho-hum boredom of retirement and helps people get out of the isolation they have when they live alone. And when we get back to in-person sessions, you’ll meet people from all walks of life.”