NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Fifty-five years after she cut short her college education when she fell in love, Darlene Mullins has finally graduated.

Tennessee State University says Mullins, a 72-year-old grandmother of four, participated in the school’s undergraduate commencement ceremony Saturday.

Mullins was a TSU student and a budding track star in 1962 when she met John Mullins. A courtship developed, and they married. John graduated in 1964.

Mullins moved from college student to caring for their home and raising a family. They lived in several states and had two children, but she yearned for a college degree.

In 2013, she went back to TSU to pursue a degree in interdisciplinary studies. She graduated summa cum laude.

Mullins says she’s happy to graduate: “I just knew I had to do it.”