80-year-old working on GED proves it's never too late to accomplish your goals
HUTCHINSON, Minn. -- Students at the Hutchinson Adult Basic Education center are there to learn English as a second language, and many are working towards their GED.
But one student who walked through the doors nearly two years ago is a little different, in the best way. And they're inspiring not just the other students, but teachers too.
If you're looking for a sign to just go for it, look no further than 80-year-old Sam Flom. He stepped into a Hutchinson classroom hungry to finish something he started more than six decades ago.
"I hadn't gotten my diploma back when I was a 10th grader, so I decided to come here and work on that, pick it back up," he said.
His answer for why he never finished ("I'm not really sure") is as simple as his reason for doing it now.
"Because I didn't have anything else to do," he said.
His best subject? Social studies.
""A lot of that I lived," he said.
His worst, probably math. He was one point shy of passing it recently, but he took it with grace and went right back at it.
His secret weapon is probably his overall zest -- he's sometimes referred to as the "spark plug" of his classroom, and he's very punctual. Even when a snowstorm shut down the school, he sat outside for two hours waiting for it to open.
From his decades working at a creamery, to a shorter stint as a school custodian, he never hardened to one important fact of life. You're never to old to start, or to finish.
"When you want to learn something new, it's never too late," he said. "Before I left this world, I wanted to say, yes, I have my diploma."
Flom is taking an intensive math course right now. His goal after he passes all the GED tests is to work on his computer skills.