93-year-old completes doctorate from Liberty 60 years after starting degree

When Liberty University graduate Dr. Virginia J. Morelock, 93, of Orange County, Calif., earned her Ed.D.: Curriculum & Instruction: Elementary Education last month, she finished an educational journey over 60 years in the making.

Growing up as the daughter of a school principal and superintendent and a home economics teacher, Morelock was exposed to the world of education from an early age. Wanting to follow in her parents’ footsteps, she earned her bachelor’s degree in science and math from the University of Wisconsin and went on to teach in Wisconsin and Ohio, earning her master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati.

After her husband’s death, Morelock moved to Los Angeles to work as an elementary teacher. While there, she began taking doctoral classes at UCLA but halted her studies after one semester when she married again in 1963.

Over the next 30 years, Morelock, the mother of four, taught at the elementary, junior high, and senior high levels, serving her last 15 years as a ninth grade science teacher. Following her retirement at the age of 62, she contented herself to a quiet life of quilting.

When her second husband passed away in 2019, Morelock decided to finish the degree that she had started so many years before. After researching which school would best meet her educational needs, she chose Liberty University Online Programs because of its discounts and support of military veterans and their families (her husband served in the U.S. Air Force).

“I have spent my entire life doing things for others, and I do not regret the way I have spent my life, but now it is time to do something for me,” she told her family when she began classes. “I do not have a lengthy bucket list; I just have one thing. I have always wanted to finish my doctorate. I will need the support of all of you, but I want to do this. I want to complete my doctorate before I die.”

As an older student, Morelock knew she would face some challenges, including adjusting to new technology. She even admits to misplacing some assignments and having to redo them. But she credits her grandson, who along with his family currently lives with her, and Liberty’s “invaluable” IT HelpDesk with helping her navigate the software and ensure that she turned in every assignment on time. Despite a rough start in her first class, she said she was able to right the ship and finish with a B. But that would be her only B — she received A’s in every one of her remaining classes.

Morelock also faced the challenge of completing her studies legally blind. She did this with the help of a typist and Liberty adjunct instructor Dr. Mandy Vipperman, who assisted her in refining her capstone project, in which she focused on parental involvement (or lack thereof) at her neighborhood elementary school where her children attended.

“I am tenacious,” she said. “I start something, and I finish it. My kids encouraged me. I am one of those people where if I start something, I finish it. It may take me a while, but I’ll get it done.”

Morelock said she was “in seventh heaven” upon hearing that she had completed her final defense and earned her doctorate. She celebrated the accomplishment with a party at home with her family. She plans to visit Liberty’s campus in May to walk across the stage at Commencement and have the opportunity to meet her professors.

Now as a Liberty graduate, she hopes to inspire more current and future students to reach their own personal goals just as she did for so many children through the years.

“Whatever your dream is, don’t ever give up,” she said. “Keep working towards it, and if you persist, you will make that dream come true. You have got to be persistent.”