A 100-year-old woman finally achieved her goal of earning a high school diploma more than 80 years after she quit school.
Clare Picciuto told ABC News that she was about to enter high school at the start of the Great Depression.
But times were tough financially in her family, so her parents asked her to quit school and get a job instead.
She told ABC News that her brothers were allowed to continue their education while she was forced to stop.
Picciuto recently attended her granddaughter's college graduation, which renewed her regret about not finishing school.
"She's been to so many graduations — my high school, college and grad school ones. And a bunch more for all my daughters. But she never had her own," Picciuto's daughter, Deborah, told ABC News.
So as her mother’s 100th birthday approached, Deborah reached out to her school district’s superintendent and asked if there was any way to make her wish come true.
On Wednesday, North Reading Superintendent Jon Bernard presented Picciuto with a cap, gown and honorary diploma.
She held the diploma, beaming with excitement.
“I graduated!” Picciuto said. “It feels good.”
About the Author
