78-Year-Old Man Finally Gets High School Diploma

Sams can finally call himself a graduate after donning a cap and gown and receiving his diploma at California’s San Gabriel High School.

A 78-year-old man identified as Ted Sams has finally received his high school diploma 6 decades after he was initially expected to graduate.

Ted Sams received his diploma on Friday, May 27, alongside members of the class of 2022 from San Gabriel High School.

Sams was a high school senior in 1962, but a string of speed bumps, including a $4.80(N2k) book fee, ultimately led him to leave school without a diploma in hand, Yahoo News reported.

Sams said he was both nervous and excited about his big day and called it one of the best days of his life.

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“When you get your picture taken and people are cheering for you, what do you expect? I didn’t expect all of that, either, but what can I say?” he told the outlet. Ted Sams walked out of high school In 1962, 

“Sams’ trouble began when he was suspended just five days before the end of the school ear for, as he put it, “just screwing around.” 

The ordeal forced him to miss an important final exam, which he made up over the summer. Later on, Sams was faced with another roadblock — the book fee — on his quest to graduate high school. That was the final straw.

“When I went back with my grade, they wouldn’t give me my diploma because I owed $4.80 for a book and so I just walked away and said forget it,” he said. 

Since then, Sams has regretted not walking at his high school graduation. But, it’s a story he said he has shared with his children for quite some time.

Sams’ daughters Sherry and Sally and their husbands attended Friday’s ceremony after contacting the school about their father’s diploma a few months prior, per the Star-News.

Sherry said everyone on stage hugged her father when he walked and got his diploma. He then received a round of applause from the graduating class.

“They knew he was there from 1962 and they knew his story because the principal had talked about it,” Sherry said. 

“So both I and my sister got teary because kind of the whole stadium came to a standstill,” she added 

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CREDIT: ALLSCHOOL, YEN