In Our Words: Josy's Advanced Degrees and Accomplishments In the late 1970’s Josy began to take night classes while continuing to teach full-time. She and José were now empty nesters, she was recovering from breast cancer, and her classroom experiences may have become less fulfilling. Josy immersed herself in classwork to earn her “Master’s Plus 30”, and also studied for and earned her Bat Mitzvah as an adult. As her credits accumulated, Josy decided to pursue a Doctorate in Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences. Her thesis was entitled "A Descriptive Study of the Offer As A Speech Behavior in American English". In addition to her course work, she did extensive data collection and field research, recording conversations at every opportunity. She was awarded her degree in 1993 when she was 69 years old. José threw a celebration party attended by their children, their spouses, and their five grandchildren, as well as many friends. Josy was frequently asked what she was going to do with her doctoral degree. She explained that she had not earned the degree with the intention of “doing something with it”, but because she believed that learning is never wasted.