Class Acts of OCC : 2 Students Take Honors as Youngest and Oldest Grads

At first glance the pair look like they have nothing in common.

She is a grandmother to 29 with a cutting sense of humor and an easy smile. He is a bespectacled 10-year-old genius who loves pizza, chemistry and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

But for the past several months Sondra Baker and Masoud Karkehabadi have crossed similar paths. Unknowingly, they have shared a college campus, butterflies over finals, and dreams of the future.

On Thursday, the boy wonder and the genial grandma will have one more thing in common when they join 1,400 other students in the class of 1992 at Orange Coast College. Baker, at 58, will take the honors for being the oldest grad, while Masoud will be the youngest.

“We have seen dramatic changes in the past few years; we have become far more diverse,” said Jim Carnett, a spokesman for the college. “I think it adds a richness to the class.”

It had been more than 35 years since Baker had picked up a textbook when she enrolled at OCC.

She had a lifetime of experience and 29 grandchildren to prove it. A college degree was just something she never found time for. “When you’re married at 18 and have six kids by the time you hit your early 20s, who has the time?” Baker said.

After her husband died in 1988, Baker found herself with an empty house and a lot of time on her hands, so she decided to give college a try. In December, 1989, Baker came to the campus to snoop around and left enrolled in classes totaling 14 units.

“I really didn’t think I could do it,” she said while taking an hour break before presenting a 10-page final paper to her Experimental Psychology class. “I figured I could always back out at the last moment and no one would know.”

But she stayed and--with help from the Re-Entry Center, which assists older students in getting accustomed to going back to school--she soon found herself struggling through algebra and making friends. Now, the Costa Mesa resident is preparing to graduate.

While Baker feared being too old, Masoud feared being too young.

After classmates at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut taunted the 10-year-old about his off-the-chart IQ, Masoud was a little gun shy. But eventually, he found his niche--the chemistry lab.

“He has more questions than the average student,” said Masoud’s chemistry instructor, Stan Johnson.

Since transferring to OCC in January, Masoud, a resident of Laguna Hills, has taken 23 units, the largest load ever attempted by an OCC student in a single semester. His classes include history, chemistry, trigonometry and anatomy.

Masoud’s incredible memory makes studying easy for him. Unlike classmates who labor long hours trying to remember complicated equations and formulas, Masoud says he needs only read an assignment once to commit it to memory, leaving him time for his other interests--like eating, climbing trees and playing video games.

“I feel I fit in” at OCC, he said, while sitting in front of the chemistry building clutching a textbook-filled book bag and a small fluorescent green Ninja turtle baseball glove.

Masoud and Baker recently met for the first time and, to their surprise, they easily overcame the 48-year age gap, discussing similar passions such as the great burritos at one of the local student hangouts and their futures.

Baker plans to transfer to Cal State Fullerton in the fall and pursue a bachelor’s degree in human services. Her ultimate dream is to work with the elderly. Masoud says someday he will be a brain surgeon and hopes to seek a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.

Both plan on making a difference. “I want to use my brain to the best of its capacity and give back to society,” Masoud said. Added Baker: “There are so many things I can do.”