Rosemary Smith on her graduation day, May 10, 2008 Rosemary Smith was born in a German colony in Africa called Southwest now known as Namibia. Smith's family moved to Karlsruhe, a city in their homeland of Germany, when she was two years old. She remembers when the German soldiers marched out to "take over the world" under Hitler's regime.

Smith also remembers losing her father in the Battle of Stalingrad and the soldiers coming home starving and in rags. She saw much destruction and sadness in her country as the bombs began to fall. She was 13 years old when her life, her education, her world came to a halt as they lived in the basement of her aunt's house for two years. There were horrible conditions in her city, but her life was spared, and peace finally came.

Smith married an American reserve officer and moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, where she worked for the North Carolina General Assembly. When the couple moved to South Carolina, Smith immediately went to the South Carolina General Assembly and was hired by Sen. Hyman Rubin. This senator introduced the legislation for senior citizens to receive a free education from a state university.

When Rubin was defeated, Smith began to work as administrative assistant to Senator Glenn McConnell, president Pro Tempore of the South Carolina Senate.

Four years ago, Smith decided to do something she never had the opportunity to do. Her post secondary educational opportunities in Germany came to a hiatus because of the war, and she had never completed a college degree. She said, "If I am going to do this, I have to do it now."

On May 10, 2008, Rosemary Smith graduated from the University of South Carolina with a BA in German. She graduated summa cum laude and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. At her graduation ceremony, President Sorenson said to her, "We are so proud of you!" She said her graduation day was "very emotional to me."

Now she plans a trip to Salzburg, Germany, to visit her old school friends and show them her diploma and the wonderful things that have happened in her life.

Smith and her husband have two children. Both are civil engineers like their father.

Smith said, "I hope when other seniors find out about my studies, it will inspire them to go back to school."