The 13^th annual College Day occurred on Oct. 25. The event allowed members of the local community to attend four classes within UNC Wilmington’s college of arts and sciences. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UNCW sponsored the event. 

Shelley Morse, the director of OLLI, looks forward to the event each year.

“I love to see our community of learners coming through the doors early in the morning, happy to be on campus and ready to learn,” Morse said. “You are never too old to learn something new.”

College Day promotes OLLI’s main goal—encouraging a lifelong love for learning. In addition, it gives an insight into the happenings of UNCW. OLLI provides community members with access, and College Day reinforces involvement with the UNCW campus and the UNCW faculty.

Highlighting their curriculum and their teaching styles, the college of arts and sciences faculty hosts this event each year. They have the chance to interact with and teach a community that has a passion for learning.

“Our community of learners love to come on campus and be a student for a day, to engage with the UNCW faculty members, to walk around our beautiful campus and to meet other lifelong learners interested in continuing to be engaged intellectually and socially,” Morse said.

This year, 140 community members attended the event. They arrived enthusiastic and ready to learn.

“Many, many people look forward to this day every year, and those who have just moved into the area or discovered College Day are very excited about being a student for the day,” Morse said. “It is not often they get the opportunity to have such close contact with our incredible UNCW faculty.”

Participant George Gardner has attended the program all 13 years. He has enjoyed each new experience.

“We want to relive the college days,” Gardner said. “College was the best days of our lives. We’re reliving our youth by coming to these programs.”

College Day gave many members of the community an opportunity to reminisce about their time in college, stirring up their appreciation for learning.

“I’ve taken notes on every lecture,” Gardner said. “I have kept all of them, and I have binders full. I make notes of any websites or references to look up when I get home.”

Participants learned about a variety of different subjects. Participant Ann Handler, who has attended for five years, loved her learning experience.

“I learned about something that I probably would’ve never had an interest in,” Handler said. “It’s enlightening. It is great exposure to what the university has to offer.”

Current UNCW students agree that this event stresses the importance of learning.

“A love for learning is important,” student Caroline Huffman said. “It gives us the opportunity to grow and explore our interests.”

Many of the College Day participants would like to see more people take part in the event in the future. They believe that it is a great experience to attend classes, walk around the beautiful campus, meet new people and learn from the faculty members.