Man graduates high school at 82 in Livorno

An 82-year-old man has graduated high

school in the Tuscan port city of Livorno, becoming one of the

oldest Italians to do so.

Giuseppe Macaione, told a local paper he had fulfilled a dream

in getting his high school diploma.

Macaione, Il Tirreno reported Thursday, graduated in electrical

engineering from the evening course at the Galilei Technical

Institute, returning to school after more than sixty years.

He is one of the oldest people to have achieved this milestone.

Born in Sicily near Cefalù, Macaione dropped out of school at

18, worked on the railways and then at the post office for over

thirty years, and upon retirement, decided to revive his

youthful passion for electrical engineering.

"I started studying again for my own pleasure," he told the

newspaper, overcoming his reluctance, so much so that he didn't

even want to be photographed.

"I went to evening school with people much younger than me. "I

fit in with the other kids. It was wonderful."

Last year, he had to stop attending to be with his sick wife,

but he resumed and completed his three-year course.

"It's never too late to start studying," Macaione said.

He prepared himself at home, with the help of a literature

teacher.

The principal of the technical institute, Antonio Manfredini,

called him "a concrete example that shows that, when there's the

will, there's no age limit to achieving a goal."

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