After graduating at 73, University of Arizona student heads to law school

Carol Nigut is graduating from the University of Arizona Saturday with a Master of Legal Studies degree.

She’s also 73 years old.

Nigut had several lives over the decades. She worked as a flight attendant, real estate agent and counselor. When she turned 70, Nigut made the decision to start anew, again. She would enroll in college to become a paralegal.

“For my 70th birthday, I just had a big party and I just sort of realized, not to be morbid, but you start to see people around you and they’re dying in their 70s and their 80s and I just thought, oh my God, I might only have 10 or 15 years left,” Nigut told University of Arizona News. “Is this really what I want to do with the rest of my life? And it wasn’t.”

When she discovered U of A’s Master of Legal Studies program, Nigut signed up. She initially did not plan to attend law school after graduating, but with the convincing of her peers and teachers, Nigut applied to multiple Juris Doctor programs.

“While I was doing this, I continued to have so much hunger for learning more and understanding more and being able to really understand the law enough to be able to utilize it,” she said.

This University of Arizona graduate isn’t done yet

Nigut was just accepted to California Western School of Law in San Diego with a scholarship. When she graduates with her Juris Doctor degree, Nigut will be 77 years old.

First, she has to graduate from U of A and celebrate with the people who supported her journey.

“I feel like I should [have] always been here. It just took me a while to get here,” Nigut said. “I’m having a big party tomorrow night to celebrate my supporters because without them, I wouldn’t be here,” she said.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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