Lifelong Learning at Tyndale
Edna Eade [Toronto Bible College 1952] is living proof that learning is a lifelong journey. Her love for a challenge has led her back to Tyndale more than 60 years after she graduated from what was then Toronto Bible College (TBC). Over the past few years, Edna has been enrolled in the Master of Theological Studies (MTS) program, working at her own pace and taking one course per semester. She is now only three courses shy of graduating and hopes to walk across the convocation stage next year. “I want to keep my mind stimulated,” says Edna.
As a mature student in her 80s, Edna enjoys her courses and classroom discussions with her diverse group of peers. “The young people here have been very accepting,” she says. “I’ve made a lot of friends. [The material] is much more in depth, and there’s a greater choice of subjects. We didn’t have courses like Christian Ethics back then.”
Current Tyndale students may find that they share similarities with Edna’s experience as a student in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. Certain things stick out in her mind; sports (especially speed skating), groups of students going out to give their testimonies, and working part time to pay her way through school. She also remembers the deep friendships she had developed and has been able to connect with familiar faces at Tyndale alumni events. Amidst her fond memories, there is just one regret. “I didn’t really apply myself the first time around. I didn’t use that time wisely,” says Edna. “This time I’ve been much more diligent in my studies.”
After graduating from TBC, Edna majored in Anthropology at Wilfred Laurier University. During her long career, she worked for the federal government as the Director of Education and Training for Ontario. After retiring, she decided she was not ready to stop working and started her own successful consulting business, which she ran for eight years. Her manuals Assessment in the Church and Assessing Organizational Resources help churches and businesses create standards of performance and determine the health of their organizations.
Today, even under the pressure of looming deadlines for her final papers, Edna enthusiastically recommends returning to school post-retirement. “It’s such a refreshing stimulus to learn new things,” she says. “It’s a path others should consider.”