99-year-old Maine woman receives college diploma 75 years later Ilana Lemack

 A 99-year-old woman was finally awarded her college diploma at a special graduation ceremony after a $5 diploma fee prevented her from receiving it 75 years ago. Although the woman, Jessie Rose White, received her degree for stenography and bookkeeping in 1939, she was not able to pay the $5 to actually get the diploma. White says she put herself through bookkeeping courses with $500 her uncle had given her years before she enrolled at Beal College. He specified that the money could not be used for anything other than education. 75 years later in 2014 Beal College President Allen Stehle presented White with her diploma.Diagnosed with polio at 18 months old, White used crutches to make her way around the Beal campus when she was a student. She struggled to get a job after because of her disability, working as a bookkeeper and later a seamstress.

This is an uplifting story of a woman with perseverance and strength. She did not let her disability or lack of money keep her from getting an education. It is people like her that keep this country a positive place. Although it was 75 years late, it was amazing that White still was able to receive her diploma. 

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/26/us/maine-woman-college-diploma/index.html?hpt=us_c2