A lifelong passion for learning has driven Bernice Juxon-Jones to continue her studies into her retirement. Now at the age of 92 she has just been awarded a Master of Philosophy degree in Medieval German from Swansea University.
Moving to Swansea at the age of six, Bernice worked as a teacher before emigrating to Bermuda where still lives. Over the course of a busy professional life, she continued to study and already held two BAs and two MAs when she enrolled on her latest academic quest in 2019, investigating the medieval epic poem Parzival.
Professor Julian Preece, chair in German in the School of Culture and Communication, said: “My colleague Dr Alison Williams and I found it a pleasure to work with someone so dedicated to her subject, Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach which tells the story of one man's quest for the holy grail.
“Bernice is interested in the Christian values Wolfram explores, especially the many forms of transformation and redemption, and developed an interpretation based on her own faith.
“To see Bernice examining the topic for its own sake in her retirement was inspiring and her achievement is incredible.”
Her interest in German began while she was still at school and found an old book in her home: “It was an old German grammar, printed in 1889 in Gothic script, with handwriting examples in Kurrent script. I was fascinated and began to teach myself.
“I feel particularly proud of my achievement of going from simple der, die, das, to A-level, to a BA (Hons) London.”
She also investigated Old Norse, and Spanish before deciding to study A-level French, and then A-level German. Later she gained further A-levels in Russian and Spanish as well as dabbling in Italian, Hindi and Dutch among other languages.
After being educated at St Winefride’s Convent School in Ffynone, Bernice’s first job was as an art teacher in a secondary modern girls’ school on Swansea Docks before moving to a new comprehensive school in Port Talbot where she began teaching some French and German to the Sixth Form. It was here that she met her friend and mentor French teacher Kathleen Hennessy who helped her after she enrolled as an external student at the University of London.
Bernice said: “It is all thanks to her that in 1968 I got my BA. We then both went on to achieve our A-level in Spanish, attending many summer courses in Spain.
“In 1969 we came to Bermuda, and I gained my BA in German in 1972. Our interest in Spanish increased, and after one delightful summer in Salamanca we had the opportunity to do MA in Spanish at the University of Salamanca. It was a wonderful time that I shall never forget.
“Later I wanted to consolidate my various studies and interests - history, literature, art, music, sociology, religion - and gained an MA (Humanities) from California State University Dominguez Hills, with GPA 4.0 (the highest possible academic achievement in the US educational system).
“Now, at 92, I have completed my MPhil thesis. I have spent my life studying and shall continue so to do until I depart for somewhere better. I feel content with my lot in life and grateful to those dear, good nuns who started me off on the path to learning at my convent school.”
Find out more about studying modern languages at Swansea