Page 44 - South Mississippi Living - January, 2022

44 | January 2022 www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living
Face of OLLI at
The University of Southern Mississippi
PAULA MATHIS
Paula Mathis is the director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), a program at The University of Southern Mississippi.
She’s a native Mississippian, who moved away for a few years, and returned to the Magnolia State because her family is here. Mathis currently resides in Hattiesburg and is responsible for OLLI at both the Hattiesburg and Gulf Park campuses.
Mathis’ friend encouraged her to apply for the OLLI position, and knew it’d be a great fit. “My interest in the position deepened after learning more about OLLI programming – it’s designed for the 50+ age group and provides terrific opportunities for members to remain active intellectually, physically, and socially in middle age and later years,” she describes.
730 E. Beach Blvd., Long Beach www.usm.edu/lifelong-learning | 228.214.3277
Face of OLLI at
The University of Southern Mississippi
JON CARIDAD
Jon Caridad is an instructor and a member of the advisory board at OLLI. After living in New Jersey, New York, both Carolinas, Florida, and Great Britain, Caridad eventually ended up relocating to the Gulf Coast thanks to a job offer in 1990.
As a lifelong educator, when Caridad found out about OLLI during his retirement, he saw it as an opportunity to stay in the field of education. “I like the discipline of preparing classes and imparting information to willing learners,” he explains.
He embraces the fact that we are all students throughout our lives and loves learning new things.
730 E. Beach Blvd., Long Beach www.usm.edu/lifelong-learning | 228.214.3277