Arthur Ross, a 71-year-old man, has achieved a significant milestone by completing his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia (UBC), after an astonishing 54-year journey. Ross is a record holder for the longest time taken to graduate from a university.
“The headline on your story should be ‘UBC finally graduates its slowest student,'” the 71-year-old told UBC with an easy laugh.
Ross first enrolled at UBC in 1969. “I just wanted to learn because I was curious. That desire for learning, he said, is what inspired him to finish his degree after all these years”, he said.
Initially intending to pursue a degree in English, Arthur Ross found his passion for the theatre during his second year at UBC. His devotion to the performing arts became all-consuming, as he spent an increasing amount of time in the theatre department. He was engrossed in participating in productions and enrolling in courses that fuelled his aspiration of becoming an actor.
“I was besotted with theatre at the time. It was alive then, with a sense of vitality and newness. It seemed just electric to me,” Ross remembers. In the department, he would cross paths with renowned Canadian actors such as Nicola Cavendish, Larry Lillo, Brent Carver and Ruth Nichol, inspiring him further to pursue theatre.
After studying at UBC for two years, Arthur Ross made the decision to leave the university. He enrolled in a comprehensive three-year programme at the esteemed National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal. However, as Ross delved deeper into the practical aspects of an actor’s life and critically evaluated his own abilities, he arrived at a painful realization.
“I liked it too much. It wasn’t going to be healthy for me. I knew I was a good actor but I always thought you had to be great.”
So, he did what any aspiring actor who feels they may be outclassed would do in 1975. Ross took his three years of academic work at UBC and went to law school in Toronto, graduated and spent 35 years as a civil litigator in Metro Vancouver before retiring in 2016.
In November 2016, Ross reached out to UBC and initiated a fresh chapter in his educational journey. He obtained a new student number and wasted no time in January 2017 when he began attending UBC as a part-time student. His academic pursuits shifted towards the realm of history, with a keen focus on the intricacies of the First World War.
“I simply could not grasp why so many people would be prepared to participate in this butchery,” he explains. “However, the great revelation of pursuing a history degree was not in answering that initial question, but in looking at the sordid nature of Canadian history.”
“I’m appreciative of the students accepting that old guy tuning in from outer space,” he told UBC.
