Betty Embree Veinot isn鈥檛 afraid of a little hard work. She has three degrees and a diploma under her belt. Add a nursing career, four accomplished children, three published books, and a fiddle, and you鈥檝e got an inspiring story of lifelong learning.
Turning 77 on Mother鈥檚 Day called for a celebration, but the main event was Tuesday鈥檚 Convocation where Betty graduated with an MA in history.
鈥淚 think that I鈥檝e sort of ignored everybody for the last 18 months,鈥� she laughs. 鈥淎ll that time I was thinking I must call people when I鈥檓 finished!鈥�
A lifetime of learning
It鈥檚 hard to imagine Betty slowing down long enough to bask in her success. She started her relationship with AV俱乐部 as a young woman, graduating with a diploma in nursing in 1963. 鈥淚 left Springhill at 18 to go in training at the Moncton Hospital. I would work as a special nurse on vacations. I guess I could have taken holidays, but I wanted to have the experience. I can鈥檛 just sit around and do nothing.鈥� She worked as a public health nurse before deciding to stay home with her children.
While raising her three daughters and a son, Betty signed up for correspondence courses at Queens. She wrote her exams at Dal each spring, and after twelve years graduated with a BA in World Religions and Psychology in 1990.
Betty completed her second BA in 2007 in History, this time at Dal. As the author of three genealogy books, she wanted to enhance her understanding of Maritime history.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 intend to take the masters,鈥� she explains, 鈥淚鈥檓 just motivated... It鈥檚 just something I like to do.鈥�
To trace the roots of her masters research, you have to go back to her degree in World Religions. 鈥淲hen I was studying with Dr. [Krista] Kesselring there was quite a bit of information about Quakers, especially during the English Civil War.鈥� Betty researched Edward Burrough, a little-studied Quaker activist.
鈥淢y thesis was about his petitions to government to lessen the persecution of Quakers. He was writing to Oliver Cromwell and Charles II, advocating leniency because there were so many in prison. He wanted them to know that just because Quakers were different didn鈥檛 mean they should be mistreated.鈥�
Infectious enthusiasm
Betty can鈥檛 say enough about the support and encouragement she got from Dr. Kesselring, her supervisor.
鈥淚 just hung on to every word she said! She was not just a professor 鈥� she was a teacher. When she said that King Charles I had been beheaded, I was absolutely shocked! I was 76 years old and I didn鈥檛 know that piece of history.鈥� Her philosophy that there is always something more to know, something new to learn, is the key to Betty鈥檚 success as a learner.
This enthusiasm was contagious in the classroom, although Betty was careful not to let her senior status get in the way of being a regular student. 鈥淚 wanted to let the young people have their say in the class,鈥� she says, 鈥淪o I suppose I held back a little bit. The young people accepted me. I didn鈥檛 see myself as any different.鈥�
What鈥檚 next for Betty Embree Veinot? She鈥檒l keep playing violin with the Chebucto Symphony Orchestra, and her small fiddle group will play in nursing homes. She鈥檒l bake bread and make pies. And she鈥檒l be using her academic and research skills to edit and publish the 25 years of diaries her father kept as a Springhill coal miner.
鈥淚 just like to study.鈥� Betty says with a smile. 鈥淵ou never know when you鈥檒l get a Trivial Pursuit question.鈥�