MADISON, WI (WMTV/CNN) - Old wisdom says ‘it's never too late to learn.’ A 71-year-old great-grandma from Madison is proving the saying right. The woman has just fulfilled her dream of graduating from high school.
Aureola Deloney is a great grandma and she says she has a lot to be thankful for. "I have six kids, 16 grandchildren, 43 great-grandchildren. 43!" she said. Deloney is getting ready for a graduation ceremony. "A pair of white pants and I got some silver shoes," she said.
But it isn't for one of her great grandchildren, her grandchildren or even her own children. It's her graduation. "When I was a teenager, 16, I got pregnant. When they got grown, I decided I wanted to go back to school,” she said.
For seven years, she's been working to get her GED, and it wasn't exactly easy. “The math, oh boy, it was rough. I just threw up my hands and said, 'I can’t do this,'" she said.
But she says her teachers like Helene Smythe-Eagle, kept her going. "I come in early every day and she would be waiting for me every morning until she could get in and get started,” Smythe-Eagle said.
While her journey wasn't easy, Deloney says she wants to share her story to help motivate others to walk across the stage with a diploma in hand.
"You all can do the same thing I did and you all might go through it quicker than me. I'm 71 years old. If I could do it, they could do it. All they have to do is go and keep going and don't give up,” Deloney said.
Deloney says she plans to go back to school again, and she's considering a career as a baker.
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