Actress Caroline Quentin is going to university for the first time at 65 to study History of Art. Jemimah Wright reflects on what her story, and the words of Proverbs, can teach us about trusting God with the dreams we carry.
Caroline Quentin is going to University for the first time. She is probably currently enjoying freshers week, and at 65, using her pensioners pass to get the free night bus home.
The actress, best known for television favourites including Men Behaving Badly, Jonathan Creek and Blue Murder, was speaking to Lorraine Kelly about her decision to go to university. She will be studying at the Courtauld Institute in London to study History of Art.
She isn’t doing it because she needs another qualification for her career, she is doing it because it is something she has always wanted to do.
Quentin left school at 16 with only a handful of O-levels and never went to university. Her route into acting was through dance and performance, eventually leading to a hugely successful career on television and stage.
Quentin told Lorraine Kelly on her ITV1 show that nearly 50 years after leaving school, she is sitting down to study again.
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When she spoke about going to university, she became tearful.
When she spoke about going to university, she became tearful. She said that her children, a son and daughter, encouraged her to go, saying ‘You’ve always wanted to do this.’ I think there is something particularly powerful about being encouraged to pursue a dormant dream that has been sitting in your heart for years.
The Bible says: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12).
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We can sometimes assume that if a dream hasn’t happened by a certain age, it probably never will. Some dreams are deliberately put aside; others get buried under the demands of everyday life. But, thankfully, God is not limited by our timelines!
Caroline Quentin’s story is a reminder that a dream doesn’t become irrelevant because it has taken decades to pursue. We can become so focused on what we think we ought to have achieved by a particular age that we forget that God is the author of our whole lives – not just our twenties or thirties.
There is no biblical expiry date on curiosity, learning, creativity or calling. I love that Delia Owens published her debut novel, and one of my favourites, Where the Crawdads Sing, in 2018 when she was 69 years old. It’s not too late!
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Of course, not every unfulfilled dream is necessarily something God intends us to pursue.
Of course, not every unfulfilled dream is necessarily something God intends us to pursue. Sometimes dreams change, and sometimes God leads us in an entirely different direction. But there are also desires that remain quietly alive within us for years – and perhaps we should pay attention to them.
You may not be able to pursue your dream in exactly the way you once imagined. Your circumstances may look completely different. But perhaps there is still a step you can take. We don’t know what God may do with a desire that has been patiently waiting.
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