Seward (Ben) Owen has already had several fulfilling and successful careers.\u00a0But, at age 85, he\u2019s planning for the next stage of his life and learning.<\/p>\n
Owen is scheduled to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Waukesha this spring with an associate degree in general studies. \u00a0He finished his coursework in December, but audited two courses during the spring semester.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents were both college graduates, and they sort of bugged me about not getting a degree,\u201d he said. Owen grew up in the Chicago suburb of Maywood and started college classes at Northwestern University, but when two fraternity brothers enlisted in the Navy flight program, he decided to join them. \u201cThat stopped my college progress, but I\u2019ve always had the urge to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
After serving as a Marine bomber pilot for four years, he left the service and moved to Miami, where he and his wife raised their four children. He now has 11 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n
In Miami, he worked in the insurance business for 16 years, but his interest in aviation continued. He became involved in competitions and air shows through the local Experimental Aircraft Association chapter.<\/p>\n
So, when the opportunity came up to take a job with EAA as executive director of information services, he and his family moved to Oshkosh. \u201cThe weather was quite a shock,\u201d he recalled of that move from Florida to Wisconsin. Owen worked at the EAA for 26 years before retiring.<\/p>\n
When his wife died 14 years ago and their four children all moved on with their own families and into their own careers, he decided it was time for him to do something about that degree he\u2019d always wanted.<\/p>\n
Over the years, he had accumulated 120 college credits as he moved around the country. \u00a0So with his daughter\u2019s encouragement, he decided to start the associate degree program at the Waukesha campus two years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was living in Oconomowoc with my daughter at the time, so I decided it would be a good place to go. It\u2019s very convenient, and the parking is great,\u201d Owen said.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s enjoyed being on campus, he said. \u201cI love going to Waukesha and talking to the kids. There are a variety of students from my age to recent high school graduates. I enjoy learning and keeping my mind active as much as anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe instructors are friendly and helpful,\u201d he added. He particularly liked a class taught by Drew Blanchard, assistant professor of English, who is friend of his.\u00a0\u201cIt was about poetry, which is sort of unusual for an ex-Marine, but I enjoyed that class.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s got no regrets, except perhaps one: \u201cI wish I\u2019d thought of it sooner. I\u2019m having fun now. It\u2019s enjoyable, and it\u2019s really enlivened my life. My years at UW-Waukesha were immensely valuable to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s looking forward to graduation and moving forward with his learning, either formally or informally, Owen said.<\/p>\n
He might go for that bachelor\u2019s degree in architecture or English. He enjoyed spending time writing for EAA and his courses in English, but he\u2019s worried that the higher math required of architects might be challenging at his age. Otherwise, he\u2019s studied aircraft design and building, and has a couple of interesting aircraft design projects in mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m torn between resuming my aircraft design and building skills or continuing at the university. Perhaps my dream of designing buildings will be hard to realize, but I do feel fulfilled having obtained the associate degree.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Eager to get that college degree he missed early in life, Ben Owen went back to school. He’s now graduating from 51ÁÔÆæ at Waukesha, and he’s not done learning yet. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":835,"featured_media":70485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[250],"section":[122,124],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[261],"uwmnews-feed":[167],"class_list":["post-70484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-student-success","section-campus-community","section-students","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","related-coverage-graduation","uwmnews-feed-alumni-association"],"yoast_head":"\n