102-Year-Old Car Enthusiast Recieves Gift Of College Tuition

At the experienced age of 102, Margaret Dunning has been given the chance to go back to college to finish her business degree.

According to NBC News, Dunning had to drop out of the University of Michigan almost 80 years ago during the Great Depression. Even though Margaret had no idea of the surprise about to come her way, she has lived long enough to know that nice surprises can come at some of the most unexpected times. On Wednesday, she recieved one whopper of a nice surprise.

On Wednesday, Margaret was presented with free tuition at the University of Michigan during a special ceremony just for her.

Not only was she presented with free tuition at the University of Michigan, but she was also presented with free car-care products for the rest of her life. The FRAM Group, which makes FRAM, Autolite and Prestone automotive products, wanted to honor Dunning in response to a TODAY.com article about her lifelong love of cars.

“I’m having a big day, I’ll tell you,” Dunning said in a telephone interview following the ceremony. “Was it ever a complete surprise!”

Margaret graduated high school in 1929, she then began pursuing a business degree at the University of Michigan. Unfortunatey, however, she had to drop out of school to help her mother during the dark years of the Depression. Her mother owned a bank and needed all the support she could get.

“I went on in banking for quite a while after that, so (leaving school) didn’t cause me too much harm,” Dunning said.

The idea of going back to school has filled Margaret with joy and excitement.

“I’ll have to figure out just what I’ll study, but it will be in business, though — I know that,” she said. “I’m still running a business right now. … It’s a trust fund.”

“I’m very, very pleased about it,” she said. “I feel that I’ve been granted a few years that other people do not have, and I am really very happy that I have this beautiful old world to live in.”