Johanna Hummel, who celebrated her 70th birthday on Friday, came to ASU a year ago to realize her life-long dream of earning a bachelor’s degree.

At first, Hummel said she was scared to return to school more than 30 years after receiving her associate’s degree and wondered if she would be able to compete academically and retain new knowledge.

“I just thought, ‘Oh I’m too old, my brain is too full. I can’t do that,’” she said.

Before enrolling at ASU, Hummel took two classes at Scottsdale Community College to refresh her math and science skills.

“I think I looked like a deer whose eyes were glazed in the headlights when I got in there,” she said. “I opened the biology book and thought, ‘You’ve got to be kidding. I’m never going to be able to make it through all of this.’ But I did, and I learned.”

Hummel is a senior studying interdisciplinary science with concentrations in both Transborder Chicano/a and Latino/a studies and history, and plans to graduate in December.

Lisa Magaña, an ASU professor who has taught Hummel in several transborder studies classes, said Hummel’s passion for the subject matter surrounding the Latino community is obvious.

“Here’s someone that wants to be there because they are really interested in the subject,” Magaña said. “Sometimes I have students who are there because it fills a requirement, whereas I think Jo is there because I think she is really interested and really engaged with the subject.”

As she continues her education, Hummel said she hopes she can help Latino members of her community.

“I just have a real love for my friends in Phoenix who are struggling right now. Some are here illegally, some are not, and living under an umbrella of fear,” she said. “The people who have lived here for 20 years but do not have legal status are living in total fear of being rounded up and sent back to a country that is not their country anymore.”

She currently volunteers at Neighborhood Ministries, a program that aims to enable members of the community through education and training. Hummel will carry out her required ASU internship at the organization.

“I just have a real desire to continue to work with this group of underprivileged people and make a difference in their lives,” Hummel said.

Magaña said Hummel’s life experiences and extensive travels brought a new perspective to class.

On top of teaching English in Greece and doing missionary work in Micronesia, Hummel said her husband’s service in the Army also allowed her to see the world.

“We lived in Germany for two-and-a-half years, and it afforded us the opportunity to travel,” she said, “with just a crust of bread under our arm, sleeping in the car, and a lot of other fun things that you can do when you’re young.”

Hummel said she learned more from the English students she taught than they learned from her, but hoped to share her faith, experiences, and wisdom with students.

Along with learning many generational nuances like Facebook, Twitter and text messaging, Hummel said being on campus has taught her more about her grandchildren’s generation.

“Sometimes you hear about college students being wild party people, but I have seen so many intelligent young people,” Hummel said. “I think that our country is in good hands, and that makes me feel comfortable at my age to know that this generation is growing up to be a really capable young people.”

One of Hummel’s 12 grandchildren, Nicholas Hummel, is a junior also earning his BIS degree at ASU.

The two try to get together on a weekly basis, she said.

“As my grandson is introducing me to his friends, they’ll say, ‘You’re the grandma that makes those great chocolate chip cookies,’” Hummel said.

While she cherishes her marriage and children, Hummel said she is excited to see that modern women have more options and don’t feel the same pressure to settle down at a young age.

“I think that the doors that are open for women today are just fantastic,” she said. “There’s not the pressure on young women to get married young and have babies and fill that requirement of being a woman. I think you can have a career and you fall in love and decide to settle down — it doesn’t mean you have to produce a baby in nine months anymore.”

A blushing Hummel attributed much of her success at ASU to her husband of more than 50 years, Phil.

Hummel remembered one instance when she wanted to quit after doing poorly on a MAT 142 exam.

“I held my tears back until I got home, and then I just started crying, ‘I don’t think I can do this,’” Hummel said. “But he was saying, ‘Of course you can. Cry it out and go back tomorrow and do it again.’”

Phil Hummel said his wife worked her entire life to put him and their five children through school, and he felt blessed to be able to finally provide her the opportunity she gave the rest of the family.

Johanna Hummel said she was enjoying the role reversal within the household.

“He’s taken over the kitchen, which is great. I go home and dinner’s ready,” she said.

Aside from the stack of books she said she might never get through, Johanna Hummel said she feels blessed to have done everything she wanted to in life and wants to celebrate her graduation by indulging in her other love: traveling.

“I could be packed in an hour to go on a trip, so if somebody said to me, ‘Do you want to go to Costa Rica tomorrow?’ I’d say sure! I’ve always been like that,” she said.

After graduation, Hummel and her husband plan to travel to Australia and New Zealand.

Hummel said she values her education greatly and hopes to continue learning long after she graduates from ASU.

“I’m just excited about all the wonderful things I’m learning,” she said. “[I’m] proving to myself that I could do this and still be the grandma who makes chocolate chip cookies … just not as often.”

Reach the reporter at michelle.parks@asu.edu