When Sam Kaplan walked across the stage at the Gas South Arena in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Thursday the father of five was the oldest graduate to receive his degree.
At 72 years old he graduated from Georgia Gwinnett College more than 50 years after completing high school.
“I’m ecstatic. I’m very happy. I’ve got a lot of emotions going through me right now,” he told CBS News. “I’m just glad to be here.”
In addition to several of his children and other family members who were there to celebrate his big day, his soon-to-be 99-year-old mother Virginia Kaplan was also in attendance!
“I am so proud of him. He had many challenges, but he persevered,” she said.
Kaplan, who is also a grandfather to 15 grandchildren, graduated from high school in 1969. At the time he didn’t think college was the right decision for him so he got a job.
Over the years he worked various jobs from a part-time taxi driver to a position at an electronics wholesale distributor.
He also raised a family and a rather large one.
“Life just got in the way,” he told the Gwinnett Daily Post about enrolling in college.
But when he was 68 years old and already six years into retirement, he heard a commercial on the radio that piqued his interest.
A local college was introducing a new program, cinema and media arts.
“I’ve always liked writing and creating stories,” Kaplan said. “I’m more of a storyteller. That’s what my mother would say when I was in trouble as a kid. But, I like creating unusual stories and I was driving down 316 and I heard that Georgia Gwinnett College was going to offer a degree in scriptwriting, and I just pulled off and registered five minutes later.”
Four years later Kaplan completed his degree and graduated summa cum laude.
And he has no plans of stopping there. Kaplan said he plans to pursue a career in screenwriting.
Even though Kaplan is graduating during the writer’s strike, he hasn’t let it get to him.
“It doesn’t stop me from writing,” he said. “I just can’t get representation with anybody connected with the writer’s guild or any studio that hires writer’s guild writers so I have to wait until after the strike to do that.”
“With his new degree, he’s going to be so successful in anything he does,” his mother said. “And, who knows, I might even be in the movies.”
Congratulations, Sam! It’s hard going back to school after a one-year break, so I can’t imagine going back after more than 50 years.
Good luck with the job hunt!
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