84-Year-Old Veteran Graduates College With Summa Cum Laude Distinction

"Pomp and Circumstance" probably has an extra special ring to it for this octogenarian.

Jerry Pollard, 84, graduated from Northeastern Illinois University this past Monday, according to WLS. The senior not only became the oldest student to graduate from the school in 55 years, but he also earned the prestigious summa cum laude distinction.

"I’m very proud of him," Cindy Schaer, Pollard's daughter, said, according to NBC Chicago. "He’s inspired people he doesn’t even know and it’s incredible."

The octogenarian's family members were in attendance to see him received a bachelor's degree in history, CBS2 reported. And according to the Chicago Tribune, his degree has been a long time coming. Pollard attended DePaul University over a half century ago, however ended up enlisting in the army, getting married and starting a family.

Retirement eventually motivated him to pick up on his education.

"When I retired, I thought, 'I don't have any hobbies. What am I going to do?' So I decided to go back to school," he told the Tribune.

The octogenarian hasn't had the college experience that many other students do, and took one class a semester, slowly working toward his degree. He did, however go on a spring break and climb Mount Everest, reaching 14,700 feet up -- a fact he proudly displayed on his graduation cap, according to NBC News.

His long college career made for some jokes surrounding his nine grandchildren -- two of whom graduated before he did.

"The question was 'Who's going to graduate first? Me or them?'" he said, according to WLS.

While his classmates were younger than he is, Pollard says he embraced the age gap.

"You sit down with young people and they've got their lives in front of them," he said, according to NBC Chicago.

The studious Pollard isn't going to stop studying. In fact, he's enrolled for a precolonial sub-Saharan Africa history class next semester.

"There's always something you don't know, there's always something you can learn, when you stop learning, you're dead," he said, WLS reported.