88-Year-Old Grandpa Graduates Alongside Granddaughter, 70 Years After Enrollment

It’s never too late to achieve your dreams and an elderly man from Texas proved just that by graduating from college at the age of 88, with his 23-year-old granddaughter by his side.

Rene Neira from Texas enrolled for a bachelor's program in the 1950s, and 70 years later, finally received his degree on Dec. 11. Neira graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a degree of recognition in Economics. His granddaughter, Melanie Salazar, 23, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications.

"Since the 1950s, he has been working toward his bachelor’s degree and it has been one of his life goal and dreams," Salazar said, the New York Post reported. "But in the ’50s he fell in love and got married and started a family, so he wasn’t able to continue school right away."

Neira’s education took a backseat as he started working at a local bank, became a father to five children and took on the role of a community activist. After Salazar finished high school, Neira was inspired to pursue his lifelong dream of finishing his education and enrolled in college along with his granddaughter.

Remembering their time together in college fondly, Salazar said she and Neira would often get lunch together or work side-by-side in the library. When classes moved online during the pandemic, she helped him navigate through it.

"There were also many times where I drove him to school during the seasons when he didn't have his car," Salazar said to Good Morning America. "I was also the president of a club at school for a while and there were times when he would come to my club meetings," Salazar added. "That was really special because I could always show him off and shout out that my grandpa was there."

For a time, Neira’s aim to complete his degree was once again derailed due to his ailing health and the generational barrier in the form of online classes. But, Neira persevered this time around.

A week after finishing college, the two new graduates went to the stage together as the stadium erupted in joy and encouragement.

"When we were on stage, I felt like I was overcome with emotion… Everything was silent. I didn't hear any clapping or applause but I was told that the whole stadium erupted," Salazar said to the outlet.