Oregon, USA (NTN24) - A 99-year-old Oregon man who dropped out of college during the Great Depression earns his college degree.

It took him nearly 80 years, but Leo Plass finally earned his degree --- at the age of 99.



Plass aspired to be a teacher but dropped out of college in 1932 during the Great Depression after a friend offered him a logging job.



"He offered me 150 dollars and that was during the Great Depression. Oh God, that was a lot of money, a lot of money," Plass said.



After joining the logging outfit, Plass learnt he was just a few credits short of his teaching degree.



"They told me I only had three hours to go. I said too bad you didn't tell me that then, I would have stayed there all night to get those three hours in," Plass said.



At the urging of his nephew, Eastern Oregon University examined Plass's decades-old transcript and realized that, under its updated academic requirements, Plass qualified for an associates degree in general studies.



The 99-year old who is passionate about carpentry does not regret giving up his dreams of becoming a teacher. He still holds some strong opinions about the state of today's education practices.



"They don't teach things now that youngsters should know about. When I went to school that's about all they did teach. You learned how to cook. You learned how to sew and run a typewriter," he said



Plass said he has had a happy and fulfilling life, but he never dreamed he would be graduating college two months short of his 100th birthday.



He has no plans for another career with his new degree and says he shares one thing in common with his younger fellow graduates: jobs, then and now, are hard to come by.

no motivational speech can beat this

He desired it and his desire worked for him long after. whatever we seriously desire has a way of unfolding for us. we must be careful to desire what is worthwhile
I will always remember this story when I tend to put roadblocks on my life's way.
Man indeed is wonderfully and fearfully made