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When Valentino Eriksen decided to retire from his 50-year career managing a rowdy Miami Beach nightclub, the 69-year-old refused to slow down.
Instead of sleeping in and lounging on the beach with a book in hand, Eriksen is up at 5 a.m. — the same ungodly hour he would wrap up his club shift — to grab a coffee before running to his first college class of the day.
Eriksen, a journalism major and aspiring e-commerce business owner studying at Miami Dade College, is among the 60% of ambitious older adults in the U.S. who have gone back to school to earn more money, embark on a new career path, or find job security in the world of AI, making up 40% of total higher education revenue, according to a survey by EAB.
Finally embarking on a higher-ed journey that had been on pause for decades, the Miami resident enrolled as a freshman in fall 2025.
After his 1976 high school graduation, he began studying accounting and economics at Jackson Community College, but the workforce called his name early, and his “I’ll go back in a few years” promise turned into a half-century hiatus.
Over the next 50 years, Eriksen dabbled in various hospitality jobs, such as launching a South Florida restaurant in 1988 for an 11-year run before taking the reins as general manager at the nightclub, Twist.
By 2020, when the pandemic caused a temporary closure of the club, Eriksen saw it as an opportunity for a career pivot. “I know that the business of digital journalism and content is something I want to do,” he told The Post.
An aspiring writer, the 69-year-old realized he “needed more skills to be relevant,” admitting that the only writing he had done over the past few decades had been in emails.
Taking advantage of Miami Dade College’s older adult program, offered at various colleges to those who want to further their education while balancing a job or family, Eriksen traded late-night bottle-service transactions for classes on sentence structure and journalism ethics.
He might have more life experience than his classmates, but that doesn’t stop Eriksen from experiencing the same back-to-school anxiety most students face at the start of a new school year.
But to his surprise, he’s become somewhat of a campus fixture, often being asked by classmates to grab coffee or study for exams.
“I was worried I wouldn’t fit in and it would be awkward, but it was actually the opposite,” he explained to The Post.
For Eriksen, the Miami Dade College campus has become his second home, whether there’s a lecture on the schedule or not. Even on virtual days, he parks himself in the library computer labs.
Between hitting the gym and biking to campus, the boomer said he feels more vibrant than ever, crediting routine as being “a lifesaver” for his health and fueling his “mental ambition.”
“It helps out a lot: getting out and being around people, it’s important to me,” he said. “Especially when you get older, you get complacent.”
He’s not wrong.
A Yale University study revealed that nearly half of adults aged 65 and older experience measurable physical or cognitive improvement. Researchers found that these positive outcomes are surprisingly common and significantly influenced by an individual’s own mindset toward the aging process.
Luckily for Eriksen, his outlook on aging is a positive one.
“(Aging is) not necessarily a bad thing but it’s a part of life… It can be the best time of your life, it comes down to how you’re thinking about it,” he pointed out, revealing he is in the best physical and emotional state of his life now.
Eriksen isn’t alone in his way of thinking.
For Becky Wise, age is just a number, as the 59-year-old recently decided to go back to college 40 years after graduating high school.
Wise originally opted for cosmetology school and ran her own salon, which she said took priority over SATs and campus tours.
After having her daughter, she eventually transitioned into event planning for 55+ communities, but five years ago she couldn’t find a job and said she needed a resume spark.
She admitted to The Post that throughout her life, she always felt “less than” those who were college grads.
“Having not gone to college has always been a regret for me. I probably thought about it daily… I woke up one morning last fall and thought, ‘If not now, when?’” Wise said.
So finally, after raising her daughter and putting her through college, Wise decided it was time to focus on her wants and needs.
These days, the Gen Xer balances 12 credits at Myrtle Beach’s Horry-Georgetown Technical College while maintaining a part-time job, working 30 hours a week and posting about her college experience on TikTok.
“I thought after 40 years out of school… I don’t know if I can do this,” she admitted.
Relearning how to be a student in a new digital age was a hurdle.
“The professors expected everyone to know the different platforms used online, cite sources and use MLA format,” she explained. “I had never done any of that before.”
Wise is planning to get a degree in Parks, Recreation and Tourist Management, and plans to travel the country in her 32-foot trailer, working at state parks and campgrounds in exchange for a free site.
“The biggest thing is don’t live in regret no matter what your age is. If you wish you had done something, just do it,” she said.
Which is exactly what Jazmyn Tonymaipe, 32, is doing.
Never having attended college before, the California native hit a glass ceiling while working as an operations manager for a logistics firm. Despite her success, the salary cap and lack of growth felt like a dead end for her, not just financially but emotionally.
“It felt like wasted potential,” she told The Post. In 2024, she dove headfirst into a two-year program at San Bernardino Valley College, California, to rediscover her passions.
“I was taking care of myself and my son and realized, ‘This can’t be it for me.’ I knew I had potential for more — not more money but more fulfillment,” she told The Post. “I’m a very passionate person and everything I do, I put my all into.”
Eventually, she finished with three associate degrees in sociology, ethnic studies, and communication. “I took an ethnic studies course because it’s mandatory in California and I fell in love,” she said.
Now, she is transferring to UCLA for a bachelor’s in sociology and a minor in digital humanities, starting this fall — while also raising her 11-year-old son.
“I was scared as s–t to come back as somebody who’s older,” Tonumaipea admitted. “It was an insecurity at first.”
Now entering UCLA, she’s more confident with two years under her belt. She still admitted to some nerves that come with going to a new school with larger class sizes.
For the 32-year-old, her later-in-life return to school experience transformed her confidence.
“I was able to navigate certain rooms… I was able to teach younger people certain things and they were able to teach me as well,” she said.
Tonymaipe is already eyeing a master’s after UCLA, determined to be competitive in the job market.
“Going back to school completely changed my life,” she said, attributing the abundance of opportunities and networking to her success.
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