Betty Yost

Betty Yost

At 99 years old, Betty Yost still loves to learn. She keeps on learning at LIFE, a weekly lecture program at MiraCosta College that she helped to found 29 years ago.

LIFE, which stands for Learning Is For Everyone, is sponsored by the MiraCosta College Foundation and meets most Friday afternoons on the campus. Speakers talk about a wide range of topics, from biology to civics to music.

Yost said she enjoys getting together with the other members of the group, mostly seniors, and listening to the presentations. “I’m just into learning. It’s been a lifelong habit,” said Yost, an Oceanside resident.

Yost claims no credit for coming up with the idea for a lifelong learning program, but she gave the first lecture in the program in July 1995. As a molecular biologist and former community college professor, her topic was “Food and Microorganisms: The Bad and the Beautiful.”

She was part of the group that began organizing the regular lectures, which grew from about 10 members attending to as many as 100 people in attendance before the COVID-19 pandemic. The lectures are now also offered on Zoom, so in-person attendance has dropped a bit, she said.

Yost has had a wealth of experiences in her own life. During World War II, she served as a Navy pharmacist corpsman in northern California. After her year-long service as the war ended, she attended graduate school at the University of Southern California, then worked in research at the University of California at Los Angeles medical school. She later taught organic chemistry at Whittier College and at Orange Coast College.

Now she enjoys participating in the LIFE programs, which she says offer valuable interactions for members.

“I think it keeps people involved,” she said. “It socializes people and prevents senior isolation. If people didn’t enjoy the programs, they wouldn’t come.”