Each year around this time, Charley Pritchett gets what he calls “the itch.” He yearns to expand his worldview, so he enrolls in a series of courses at the University of West Florida, its campus conveniently around the corner from his home at Azalea Trace retirement community.

“We’re right across from the baseball field of our university here, and a lot of the people … who are going to school at the university work here,” Pritchett tells TODAY.com.

He delights in his interactions with the students, some of whom he’ll sit next to in an afternoon lecture. “They’re pleasant just to be around,” he says. And none of them seem to mind that he’s 100 years old.

It all started when Pritchett — father of four, a veteran, former air traffic controller, sports radio announcer, publisher, and former university professor — finally retired.

He’d lived abroad, taken in the Midwest and had his fill of the West Coast. He imagined the sunshine of Pensacola, Florida, which he’d read about, so he and his wife, Sheila, headed east. There, the pair learned about a program that allows Florida residents 60 or older to sign up for classes at various universities without paying tuition. So, they did.

With 51 courses now under his belt, Pritchett will probably enroll in more despite playing coy every fall, teasing he’ll do something else with his time. “It’s such a part of my existence,” he says, crediting his love of learning for his longevity, among other values.

Here are Pritchett’s tips for a long, happy life.

Charley Pritchett has lived in more than 25 cities, and Pensacola is his favorite.

Be Humble

“I’m twice as old as the teachers there,” Pritchett notes, but he’s careful to not let that give him an overinflated sense of self. Nor does he brandish his career as a former professor at the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University.

Pritchett launches into a story about six courses he took with the same educator, a political science lecturer he admires. He praises the professor’s skillful engagement with his students.

Pritchett doesn’t “overpower” in discussions and lets his classmates take the lead. “You have to know that you’re the visitor, and these are the kids that are getting the grades, and so don’t try to be big shot, and let them be big shots.”

Embrace Being a Beginner

Among his favorite courses are the ones Pritchett took with his late wife. “One that both my wife and I enjoyed was Women in the Muslim World,” says Pritchett. It changed preconceptions they each had about the roles women held in Muslim households.

Sheila, he says, was a “genius” who’d previously worked in advertising. She loved learning as much as Pritchett until she was diagnosed with and died of complications from frontotemporal dementia three years ago.

After her death, Pritchett kept on.

Having been a sports announcer, he found himself entranced by the lectures in a 13-week stint in Sports Sociology. “God, that was great!” Pritchett recalls. “I mean, very cool.”

Beyond the classroom, Pritchett says he’s still finding spaces in which he can be a beginner.

At the retirement community, he’s learning to play pool. “I never even had a pool cue in my hand till about two or three months ago,” he says, “and I must say that I am the lowest on the totem pole as far as it goes.”

Build Community

“I’m just enjoying being here,” says Pritchett, and doing so means embracing the people he has around him.

One friend is a 58-year-old with whom Pritchett has a lot in common. “It’s fun,” he says. “Both of us … laugh at so many (of) the same things.”

He’s investing in moments shared with people on campus, too. “There are a number of professors and coaches that I’ve gotten to know over the years. And so, it’s a very pleasurable life,” Pritchett says.

And he’s creating an entirely new social group at his retirement home. “I’d always wanted to have my own band,” Pritchett says. So he started one with other retirees at Azalea Trace. After finding a trumpet at a pawn shop for $25, Pritchett brushed up on forgotten skills from his youth and held auditions.

“I ended up with seven in the orchestra,” he says. They put on a concert, and things were going well for a while.

“But unfortunately, and understandably, unless you replenish your band members, they’re dying,” says Pritchett. And “COVID sort of did us in.” Then, once Pritchett broke a tooth on his trumpet’s mouthpiece, he took some time off, but he hopes to get the band back together eventually.

Stay Active

With a university campus at his disposal, Pritchett embraces its amenities. “There are so many things that are available that it’s just crazy,” he says. “For example, I go into the swimming pool (for) … aerobic exercise.”

Twice a week for 45 minutes, he swims laps, “and I look forward to it,” he adds.

Charley Pritchett loves reading and learning, and will do it for as long as he can.

Take Life One Day at a Time

“The situation is I’m 100,” says Pritchett. Genetics have been on his side, he knows. His mother died at 101, his grandfather at 101 and his aunt at 103. But he’s realistic. “How many other years are going to go by? Will I get one more or two more? Or I don’t know.”

“I’m enjoying just being here,” says Pritchett.

When he finds himself thinking about death, “I’m getting awfully close to dying,” he’ll remember suddenly. “Well, yeah, but so is everybody,” he’ll reason.

In the meantime, he’s making the most of life. “You’re just taking a day at a time,” says Pritchett. “I’m enjoying what I’m doing, and it seems I’m busy all the time, but I’m enjoying it, and will look forward to a few more years, hopefully.”. (Today.com)