99-Year-Old Mother Watches 72-Year-Old Son Graduate College

Most people who attend college do so immediately after graduating high school. They may, on occasion, allow a year or two to pass in between, but rarely is it an extended amount of time.

Then you have Sam Kaplan. He was 72 years old when he graduated from Georgia Gwinnett College. That college, located in his hometown of Lawrenceville, is where he earned his bachelor’s degree in cinema and media arts.

As you can imagine, graduating at the age of 72 would be an amazing and proud moment. However, nobody was prouder than his 99-year-old mother, and she was there in the audience to cheer him on.

Kaplan graduated college, which was special for another reason. He has seven siblings, and he was the first to get his degree.

In speaking with the college, Kaplan said that his mother was ‘excited, happy, and proud.’ Undoubtedly, she was all smiles as she sat in the audience with other members of her family.

Kaplan likely thought he was finished with his scholastic career when he graduated high school in 1969. He entered the workforce immediately, doing jobs that included driving a taxi and telemarketing.

When he was 68, he was driving on a road near the college when he heard an ad for a GGC program, and suddenly, he knew what to do next.

In a press release, he said that his car seemed to automatically pull off on Collins Hill Road. He was registering for the fall semester within a few minutes.

One of the appealing things he heard in the ad was about writing scripts. Kaplan had already written two books, and it was of interest to him.

He spoke with Fox 5 Atlanta, expressing how much he enjoys writing. He thought it was possible to turn his stories into screenplays, but he needed a foundation to get started.

Although he was able to graduate successfully, he did have some challenges. Kaplan was at school with a class that was much younger than him, and he had to learn how to study again.

In the end, everything seemed to turn out well for Kaplan. Not only did he get a lot of cheering when he received his diploma, but he also got plenty of hugs from fellow students.

Sam Kaplan, 72, became the first of his seven siblings to earn an undergraduate degree when he graduated from Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Georgia, earlier this month. In the crowd was his “proud” 99-year-old mother. pic.twitter.com/G19NnBAnik

— CNN (@CNN) May 23, 2023

This is an amazing achievement for Kaplan, and he is proud of himself for earning it. We’ll just have to see how he plans on using his newfound knowledge in the future.

Watch an interview with the graduate here: