Rodney Dangerfield may have played a successful businessman who went back to college with his chagrined son in the 1986 movie, “Back to School”, but Rene Neira, 82, is in college for real, and his granddaughter and fellow student is thrilled about it, Fox News reported.
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It is not a story that you often hear, but for Melanie Salazar and her grandfather Rene Neira, this is just normal life.
Many grandparents celebrate when their grandchildren go to college, and for Melanie Salazar’s family, the tradition was no different.
“I think people are very drawn to him because this is an every day person – an 82-year-old person – who isn’t giving up on their education”, Salazar told CBS News.
“He’s determined to get his degree” she added.
Melanie Salazar and her grandfather sit and relax on a bench outside of school in San Antonio, Texas.
Rene has to finish just one class to earn his associate’s degree in economics.
“I’m actually very undecided, but I had to put down something”, she admitted.
“It makes me realize the importance of getting an education like my grandpa.so I can accomplish something great like him”.
“I try to meet up with him before his class starts, and he walked me to my next class once”, she said.
Once he completes his associate’s degree, Neira plans to attend the University of Texas at San Antonio to get a bachelor’s degree in economics.
When she posted her comments on Twitter, Salazar never believed it would mean this much to people.
“I don’t want to take credit for it”.
The 82-year-old’s attitude has inspired more than just social media users – Salazar said it’s motivated her to knuckle down and focus on what she wants, too.
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Neira told his granddaughter that he’s happy his story is helping her and other students on campus, but that wasn’t his goal.
