When Lorinda Visnick turned 60 in May, her siblings threw her a birthday party. Just a few days later, she woke up early and took the commuter rail from her Beverly home to the Massachusetts State House for the first day of her internship.

Interning at the State House in her sixties was not originally part of the plan — Visnick admitted she wasn’t sure she’d even live that long.

Both of her parents had died at 59. Among her siblings, turning 60 had become an occasion worthy of celebration, because in their world, it wasn’t guaranteed.

“I thought, there’s no way in hell that I’m ever getting anything more than my bachelor’s degree, because even that at the time, felt very overwhelming,” Visnick, a first generation college graduate, said.

The mother of four is currently pursuing a PhD in

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