Pawn shops are businesses where people bring their possessions to sell or to get a short-term loan. The United States has about ten thousand of them. In the 

past few years, pawn shops have been doing business with more people than 

ever before. That is because many lenders now do business only with individuals having good credit ratings or a high-paying job. Often, the individuals most in 

need of a loan have poor credit ratings. But they do not need a good job or 

credit rating to get a loan from a pawnbroker. They only need something of value.

When a traditional lender approves a loan, it may be days or weeks before an individual receives the money. But pawnbrokers will give a loan in just a few 

minutes based on the resale value of an object and without asking about the 

person’s job or credit history.

     Many pawn shops specialize in jewelry. But most shops accept almost anything of value, including computers, musical instruments, guns, old coins and other antiques. The item itself acts as the security, or collateral, for the loan. If the loan is not repaid, the object can be sold. Customers can get the object 

back -- called redeeming it -- at any time by repaying the loan plus the interest 

and fees they agreed to pay. Or they can pay the interest and leave the item at 

the pawn shop for a while longer.

        Nola Ochs was born in Kansas in 1911. Her life was not extraordinary by most measures. She grew and married, had children and grandchildren, taught in rural schools, and lived the quiet Midwest life. But she was different in one notable way: After her husband died in 1972, Nola began taking classes and eventually earned her associate degree at age 77.

       “I still wanted to go to school. It was fun to go to classes. And if I had an assignment to do in the evening, that occupied my time in a pleasant way,” she recalled. After some years went by, Nola again got the bug to learn.

       Learning takes time, and moving through courses must be done on your own time, at your own pace. When Nola had 30 hours of school left to complete, she moved 100 miles away from her farm, got an apartment and attended classes in person. She graduated with her granddaughter in 2007.

      Nola could have been finished then with her long life of learning. She was, after all, 95 years young. Nola decided to keep going. She lived in the student dorms and got her master’s degree in liberal studies with an emphasis on history three years later, at age 98.

       A hundred years yields a lot of wisdom. But it’s the process that can teach us all. Learn everything you can. Share your crops with the neighbors. And never, never give up on yourself. At 105, Nola finished her memoir.