Trying to find a job at 71 isn’t easy.

Richard Powell got creative.

No-one would hire him after he and his wife moved back to the Island two years ago after several years living in the US.

The former taxi driver and photographer could have returned to his former careers but instead took his daughter’s advice and enrolled in a culinary course at the Bermuda College.

Needless to say, he’s the oldest student.

“I could have driven a taxi,” the senior citizen said, “but I wanted to do something for me.”

Mr Powell was a house husband while his wife, Rev Linda Powell worked in the ministry in Delaware.

He’d always loved cooking and over the years made sure his wife had a nice meal waiting for her at the end of the day. He had also helped out at church banquets.

When they decided to move back to Bermuda they realised that the high cost of living meant he’d have to work.

“My daughter, Danika Perreira, is a professional chef,” said Mr Powell. “She encouraged me to go to the Bermuda College to study cooking. But I thought, do I really want to go to school with kids my grandchildren’s age?”

The experience has been “fantastic”.

“The kids come up to me and say, ‘You are such an inspiration to me’,” he said.

He’s on course to attain a diploma in the culinary arts next semester. He’ll be one of the oldest to graduate from the programme.

Course instructor Taneika Eve, said: “Certainly, he’s the oldest student I’ve ever taught. I never expected to have a student who was 71.”

At first she struggled with what to call Mr Powell. She liked to call all her students by their first names, but felt it was disrespectful in his case.

“I went to school with his daughters,” said Ms Eve. “He’s my father’s age. So finally, I settled on calling him ‘Sir Richard’. Now all the other students call him that also.”

Mr Powell said it was great to be back in school.

“The cooking part of the course gets easier and easier,” he said. “The hard part has been the academics.”

This is his first time in a college environment.

“The college has been very supportive and good at providing help, whenever I need it,” he said.

He feels that his age is an advantage in some ways.

“I can’t claim to be an ‘A’ student, but I am still learning. It has made a difference. I was never a reader before and this is helping me become one. I have learned that people who are readers are more likely to be ‘A’ students. That is amazing.”

His hope is to work as a chef in a restaurant or start his own business. As part of the programme he did a three-month internship with La Trattoria, and they asked him to return.

Ms Eve said she could see real growth from the internship.

“I used to call him Hurricane Richard,” she said. “He was so unorganised with his work area. After the internship his plating skills had really improved. I’ve now downgraded him to a tropical storm.”

The downside to attending college as a septuagenarian is he misses out on some of the social life. It’s hard to hang with your fellow students when they are decades younger.

“One thing I have realised is how important the Bermuda College is to Bermuda,” he said. “I don’t know if the average Bermudian is aware of the college’s importance.”

He recommends that other senior citizens give the college a try.

“I did this because I still needed to work,” he said. “It has given me a chance to renew my inner self. My memory has gotten better since I have been taking this course. That is a plus for an older person who can keep up the pace.”

Jenny Medeiros, 33, said she worried about being the oldest person in her class when signed up for the course.

“Boy, was I surprised that there was someone who was 71 in the class,” she said. “Now I don’t worry about my age anymore. Having such a diverse group of people in the class is great. Everyone is pushing everyone else along. At times Richard has been like, ‘Hey, you need to listen up!’ He keeps the kids in check.”