What are you going to do when you retire?

Some people figure retirement’s a great time to learn new things, even go back to school. That’s what Walter Martin thought he’d do when he retired from farming in the Kindersley, Saskatchewan area and moved to Saskatoon about 10 years ago.

“I wasn’t quite ready to put my feet up and spend the rest of my life looking out the window,” says the 82-year-old. So he decided to take a few classes at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S). Two weeks ago, he received his Bachelor of Science honours degree in land use and environmental studies.

The experience “just sort of grew” he told the U of S communications department; those few classes sparked his interest, and he decided to plunge right in. “How in the world did I get myself into this?” he sometimes wondered. “But once you start something, you pretty near have to finish it, don’t you?”

Some retirement! Even as he studied and did the coursework, he continued to help his son work the old farm.

And what’s he going to do now that he’s earned his degree? Settle into retirement?

Nope. Martin’s considering either enrolling in more undergraduate courses next fall, or might just apply for a master’s degree program.