CSUN alumna Beatrice Weingart, 100, visited a Sociology of Aging class Thursday to discuss her life and thoughts on aging.

Weingart graduated from CSUN in 1961 with a master’s degree in science education. She recalls the campus as beautiful and filled with orange trees, flowers and avocado trees.

She got her bachelor’s degree in science from Cornell University. After she graduated in 1931 she was a bacteriologist at a hospital before being employed by the New York Public Health Department to conduct research.

She moved to California in 1945 to get her teaching credentials at CSUN.

“I had to work. I had two young children and my husband’s Navy salary was inadequate,” Weingart said.

Weingart had been travelling by herself until she was 98, but an accident left her needing surgery.

“Until I was 98 I lived alone, cooked and travelled then made the mistake of tripping my own feet and hitting my head severely,” Weingart said.

Weingart has been taking vitamins from an early age, a habit she picked up from her father and one she still retains today. She exercises every day, part of which is a weekly physical therapy session.

“Old age is in the mind. If you don’t think old, you won’t be old,” Weingart said.