In many ways, Debbie Blount is your typical college sophomore. She's trying to juggle her studies as an Interdisciplinary Studies major, all while competing on Reinhardt University's golf team.
However, Blount is not your typical college sophomore, as on her birthday, she turned 63-years-old.
She didn't attend college right away after graduating from high school in 1976, and didn't even pick up the game of golf until her 30s. She was inspired by her late husband, whom she wanted to spend more time with.
When her husband died after a long battle with an illness, she moved to Vail, Colorado to be close to her father. Not long after that, he also passed away. Stuck in a rut, she decided to finally attend college all these years later, because Reinhardt University was her only choice.
Before deciding to pursue a career as an X-ray technician after leaving high school, a guidance counselor suggested Blount look at the school to possibly attend. One sign. Second, her husband's mother worked in a dorm at the school. Third, she came across a yearbook from the school following her husband's and father's deaths, so feeling lost, she knew all these signs pointed to her packing up her things and moving to Waleska, Georgia, not far from where she grew up, to finally enroll in college after all these years.
And despite having multiple decades on her teammates, and even some of her coaches, Blount is fitting right in with the team. She told CNN that despite not having children of her own, being around her younger teammates "often shows her what it might have been like to have a daughter around their age." Even some of their parents have written her notes, thanking her for the "wisdom" she's brought to their team, she says.
Being on the team has even inspired Blount evaluate what she might want to do following graduation. Even though she may still "ride off into the sunset" with her boyfriend and "do the retirement game," she thinks she'll might end up coaching other youngsters as a graduate assistant at Reinhardt.
For now however, she has completing this semester to focus on. She's recently been nominated for homecoming queen, and already recruited the girls to help her find a dress for the event, a request they, of course, happily accepted.
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