# @bbcnews on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DPzWM2HkcSw
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/35704658-bbcnews-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/1475159f9e.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-10-14T20:00:52.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** BBC News (@bbcnews) — https://gondola.cc/bbcnews

## Caption

"It's never too late."

Seventy years after starting her studies, Maryette McFarland from Londonderry, Northern Ireland, was finally able to graduate from university with a degree in English Literature. 

"I can hardly believe it, and it's taken me quite a long time," she said. 

Maryette had originally started university in Dublin back in the 1960s, but dropped out of her course and got married instead.

Studying online had proved a challenge at times. However, she said her family - including her four children, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren - had been "wonderful".

"I'm very bad online but I had a lot of help from the family," she said, adding that her daughter-in-law taught her how to type.

"I am just so proud of her," Her eldest daughter Shauna Gailey said.

Tap the link in BBCNews's bio to see where Maryette graduated. 

(📸 The Open University/ PA)

#Londonderry #University #BBCNews

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## Tags

bbcnews, university, londonderry

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