Gloria Stowers was looking to break a generational pattern. At 70, she has now become a college graduate!

According to Fox 5 in Atlanta, GA, Stowers has received an art education degree from Kennesaw State University, based in Kennesaw, GA. This accomplishment is significant for the recent graduate, as she charts a new course within her family and is reminded it is never too late to turn a new leaf.

“I wanted to get away from the generation of my family being uneducated to being educated,” Stowers told the outlet. “Because being educated can give you opportunities in life. It makes the road that much easier. It gives you options you don’t even know of until you go.”

Stowers, who raised three children as a single mother, made the choice to return to college six and a half years ago. 

“I think the background of my mom’s story is so unique, just with her going from a wife with three kids and going from my dad dying and her being left with a 12-year-old, a 6-year-old, and a 3-year-old at that point in time and still not giving up,” Gloria’s daughter Maya said, according to Fox 5.

Stowers waited until her children, Dijon, Sasha, and Maya, were grown and financially stable to fulfill her dream of obtaining a degree.

“I wouldn’t say the key word is ‘wait.’ I would say, no matter what it is that you have a desire for, put the action into it,” Stowers expressed to the outlet. “And time is of the essence, so every day utilize the time that is given to you. And that is my fulfillment of all the things that I’ve accomplished. Be blessed and take advantage of what’s at hand.”