OCEANSIDE — At age 6, Betty Yost, the first president of Learning Is For Everyone (LIFE), wanted to get a library card.
“I was a great reader,” Yost said. “I was reading the New York City tabloids, which are full of junk and things little six-year-olds shouldn’t know about.”
But the librarian turned her away, fearing younger children might tear pages out of books.
“My mother took me to a different library, and I told them I was eight,” Yost said.
From there, her love of learning blossomed. Yost discovered a book series about children from different parts of the world, sparking a lifelong curiosity.
At 100 years old, Yost still describes her relationship with learning as “a constant pursuit.”
LIFE, an organization that provides free lectures to North County seniors at MiraCosta College, recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of its first lecture — along with Yost’s 100th birthday. She served as president for 20 years.
Before LIFE, Yost’s life itself was rich with adventure.
After finishing college, she became a Navy hospital corpsman stationed at Mare Island off the coast of Vallejo, California, during World War II.
When the war ended, she embarked on a 10,000-mile road trip across North America by bus, train and hitchhiking to return home to New York.
“We did it in uniform,” Yost said. “At that time, civilians would do anything for people in uniform.”
She spent her last two nickels on a pay phone and a subway ride home.
Afterward, she became a medical researcher at the VA/UCLA Medical Center.
She married William Yost in 1949 and took time off from work to be a stay-at-home mother of three.
When her oldest daughter turned 10, Yost began teaching anatomy and physiology part-time, later becoming a full-time professor of microbiology and organic chemistry.
In 1995, Yost gave the first LIFE lecture to a room of seniors, faculty and guests titled “Food and Microorganisms: The Bad and the Beautiful.”
In January 1996, she was elected president after arriving late to the first board meeting.
“I was late getting there because the cookies weren’t cooling,” Yost said. “And when I got there, I found I had been elected president of the board.”
In addition to representing LIFE, tracking donations and leading meetings, the president helps the curriculum committee recruit speakers.
According to the current president, Sue Baxter, “It’s no small chore. You have to fill 80, maybe 90 people a year.”
Over the years, LIFE has featured everyone from New York Times best-selling authors to MiraCosta’s theater department.
The organization is financially supported by the MiraCosta College Foundation and is free to join. Donations raised at LIFE events fund MiraCosta College scholarships.
Beyond providing educational opportunities for seniors and students, LIFE also serves as a vital social outlet.
Preventing senior isolation is “self-evident,” Yost said. “I think socialization is an important part of being. You get depressed if you’re by yourself all the time. You’re not good company. You need other people to bounce off.”
For more information about LIFE, visit www.miracosta.edu/community/life.html.
