Mass. Grandmother, 67, Earns Her College Degree After Nearly 5 Decades: 'You're Never Too Old'

Southern New Hampshire University Camille MacIsaac at her graduation

A Massachusetts grandmother is proving that it's never too late as she celebrates her college graduation nearly five decades after she first started her studies.

Camille MacIsaac graduated from Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) over the weekend after earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in history, according to the university.

It was an exciting moment that MacIsaac said she waited 49 years to accomplish, as having a family caused her to put her college journey on "the back burner."

"I always wanted to go back to school but life gets in the way sometimes," MacIsaac, 67, explained in an interview with SNHU obtained by PEOPLE. "You have a family, you need to raise them and your priority is getting them through college and you take the back burner."

"This was hopefully a life lesson that you're never too old to try something, you're never too old to go to school [and] you're never too old to better yourself," she added.

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MacIsaac, of Lowell, first started her college journey in 1972, according to SNHU. Her two sons both went on to earn their undergraduate and master's degrees.

"My oldest son was in the master's program here, and he graduated in 2017," MacIsaac said in the interview. "Around that time, I kept seeing [SNHU's] ads on TV... and I think that was my 'a-ha' moment."

"I said, You know what? I'm alone — I do work full time — but I made the call," MacIsaac recalled. "And once I made that call, it was very comfortable. They made it very easy... and that's how I ended up at Southern New Hampshire University."

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While pursuing her degree, MacIsaac noted how her four grandchildren — who range in age from 4½ to 9 — would joke that she was "too old" to be in college.

"They were all pretty excited that I was going to college but it wasn't in the order that one usually furthered their education," she explained. "The oldest [grandchild], probably a year before I was ready to finish school, he would go, 'You know Nonni, you're too old to go to college.' "

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Those words only fueled MacIsaac's desire to earn her degree — and she finally achieved her goal this weekend, with her loving family by her side, and watching over her.

"I'm excited, it's been a long time," she explained. "My mom passed away last year during my last semester of school. She was 99. It's something that [my parents] always wanted me to do. I think I'm most proud about that."

Though she currently works in Corporate America, MacIsaac said she hopes to use her new degree to land a gig in the education field.

"I've always wanted to get into some kind of education, whether it be teaching or mentoring," she said. "I'm exploring my options. I think I have at least a good 10 years left in me. Work keeps me busy [and] I love kids, so that's the plan."

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As for what she wants people to take away from her story?

"You can do it, you really can," she said. "It's okay to fail at something. The old cliché, 'With success comes failure,' any CEO in America would say it wasn't success all the way. So if you fail at something, you just have to take it as a learning experience and have the vision to get it done."

"If there's something you've always wanted to do, something to finish, give it another shot," she added. "It might be the right time. And it's never too late."