Thursday, May 28 will go down as a memorable day for Bayside resident Anita Sokol.
Forty years after taking her first college class, Sokol, 62, graduated summa cum laude from Queens College with a degree in art history. With her son Jacob, sister Joan and friends cheering her on during the rain-soaked ceremony in Flushing, Sokol beamed with pride and excitement – not just for her accomplishment – but because her daughter Lauren was due to give birth to Sokol’s first grandchild that same day.
Sokol said she envisioned having to run from the graduation ceremony in her cap and gown to the hospital to make it in time for her granddaughter’s birth, but she made it through the ceremony without getting a call from her daughter.
“Everyday, I’m getting this breathless kind of news,” Sokol said.
After taking her first college classes in 1969, Sokol got married and had kids – putting her education on hold. Since then, the divorced mother of two has worked for a company that provides on-site services and off-site health and wellness clinics to many large companies.
“About 10 years ago, I said I really want to be a college graduate,” said Sokol. Every semester for the next 10 years, Sokol took a class towards her major, all the while balancing a full-time work schedule, which often involved traveling throughout the country, with raising two children.
“It was hard,” Sokol said. “I remember one time Jacob tapping me on the shoulder saying mom…dinner, it’s 8 p.m.”
As an art history major, Sokol said a lot of the coursework was memorization, which she said took even more effort given her age.
“I love learning; every class brought incredible new knowledge that I enjoyed,” Sokol said. “This was something I was not going to give up.”
During Thursday’s graduation, Sokol’s son Jacob’s face lit up as he talked about how proud he was of his mother, saying it was somewhat surreal to hear the President of Queens College mention her during the graduation ceremony.
“It was kind of overwhelming seeing her,” Jacob said. “I was like, ‘that’s my mom right there; she did it.’”
His mom felt a similar sense of pride.
“It was determination and being willing to strive for goals and attaining goals,” Sokol said. “It wasn’t an easy job, but I did it.”
When the graduation ceremony ended at 11 a.m., Sokol and her family and friends were off to another honors ceremony, but she was carefully monitoring her Blackberry, eagerly awaiting a phone call from her daughter Lauren to welcome Sokol’s first granddaughter into the world.
“I’m just so excited,” Sokol said.
