The year was 1974. After bouncing around to a few schools and taking time off to enjoy the married life with her husband, Carroll, in the 1950s and ‘60s, Leila Hicks was about to get her bachelor’s degree in economics from Missouri Western State University.

So, what has Mrs. Hicks done with her degree?

“Not a whole lot,” Mrs. Hicks says.

What is written on a person’s degree doesn’t necessarily indicate his or her passion, and economics wasn’t for Mrs. Hicks. It took some time, but she eventually found it by taking night classes on ceramics at Missouri Western about 13 years ago. That class led to plenty of others, which led reenrolling at Missouri Western, which led to a second degree (bachelor’s in art) in 2006, which led to Mrs. Hicks finally finding something she truly loves.

The art classes weren’t her first exposure to art. Her mother went to the Art Institute of Chicago but only made art a hobby when she wasn’t doing volunteer work at the United Way and the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art. Her father was a businessman. Somehow, in the midst of all that, Mrs. Hicks got the impression that using a creative outlet to make a living wasn’t an option.

“You know, I had the silly idea... that art wasn’t serious,” Mrs. Hicks says.

What was a serious priority was raising her young children, Alicia and Elliot, while occasionally filling in as a substitute teacher. When her children left the nest, Mrs. Hicks, like her mother, did volunteer work. But almost 13 years ago, a couple of neighbors talked her into attending a few night classes on ceramics. Her neighbors did it for six weeks. Mrs. Hicks did it for three years.

“They dropped out and I stayed in. Kept on doing it,” she says.

Night classes turned into night and day classes, and in December 2006, she got her art degree from Missouri Western. But Mrs. Hicks continues to take classes and try her hand at other mediums like painting and printmaking.

Her work is currently on display at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art’s museum shop and at Gallery 7 in downtown St. Joseph. Items featured are as simple as teapots but other “non-functional pieces” which Mrs. Hicks particularly likes to create.

Chelsea Howlett-Weideman, the museum shop coordinator, was in class with Mrs. Hicks at Missouri Western and can attest to Mrs. Hicks’ enthusiasm and willingness learn and experiment with different techniques.

“The thing about Leila is that she’s always reinventing her style,” Ms. Howlett-Weideman says. “She was willing to test out anything and try anything.”

At her classes then and now, Mrs. Hicks tends to stand out because of her age, which she would rather not mention.

“I know they know I’m as old as their grandmother,” she says. “To actually put a number on it makes me feel like I’m really ancient.”

Ancient or no, when it comes to finding something you’re passionate about, Leila Hicks is an example to prove that it’s better late than never.

Lifestyles reporter Blake Hannon can be reached at blakehannon@npgco.com