It's never too late. Just ask Merrill Pittman Cooper, who at age 101, is finally getting his high school diploma.

According to WJLA, back in the 1930s, the centenarian attended Storer College, a former high school in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. When he was a senior, Cooper had to move to Philadelphia with his mother for financial reasons.

“She worked so hard, and it all became so difficult that I just decided it would be best to give up continuing at the school,” Cooper said, according to the Washington Post.

Eventually, Cooper began a career in transportation and became a union vice president. That said, a diploma escaped him, and it’s something he always wanted.

“I thought it was probably too late, so I put it behind me and made the best of the situation,” said Cooper, who now lives in New Jersey, per The Post. “I got so involved in working and making a living that my dreams went out the window.”

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Cooper’s stepdaughter, Marion Beckerink, told the newspaper that her stepfather always had the mind of an academic, just never the official documentation backing it up.

“Mr. Cooper — that’s what we called him then — had such a wealth of knowledge,” she said. “He was constantly quoting famous orators like Kennedy or King. He would tell me and my sister, ‘I wish that I had been a lawyer so I could debate with you.’ But he did just fine.”

A few years ago, Cooper’s relatives reached out to Jefferson County Schools, and earlier this month, he finally received an honorary diploma with his family around him.

On March 19, Rod Beckerink, Cooper’s stepson, along with his stepdaughters, took him to a hotel on the pretense that somebody wanted to ask him some questions about his long life. When they arrived at the hotel Rod confessed the real reason for the visit was for a cap and gown that was waiting for Cooper.

“I never imagined that anything like this could happen,” said Cooper, according to The Post. For the first time, said Marion Beckerink, her stepfather was speechless.

After Cooper put on his cap and gown, a virtual ceremony was held in the hotel room so other family members could witness it. He was presented his diploma by Jefferson County Schools superintendent Bondy Shay Gibson-Learn.

“I can’t think of a happier day,” Cooper said. “Even though it took me awhile, I’m really happy to finally have it.”