64-year-old UK graduate proves “it’s never too late to learn”; And did it alongside his son

Bristol: John Adesoye has graduated from nursing school at age 64, showing that a new career — and a university degree — can start at any stage of life.

The Nigerian immigrant and father of five completed a 2-year nurse associate program and a 2-year nurse apprenticeship at the NHS Foundation Trust in Bristol, before earning his degree in nursing from the University of West England. He has now secured a nursing role at Southmead Hospital, where he completed his apprenticeship.

Adesoye grew up in a poor farming family in Nigeria, where his curiosity about how things worked led to a lifelong interest in electronics. He later worked as an electronics technician in Greece before moving to the UK.“I didn’t think I’d ever go to university, to be honest. But I have passion for learning,” Adesoye said in a press release. “Even when I was small, I was so curious. When I got the chance to go to university, I didn’t take it for granted — I followed it with my heart.”In an unexpected twist, much of his study took him back to campus one day a week — right alongside his son, Daniel, who was studying for a degree in creative music technology at the same university.

Adesoye said being around younger students made him “feel young again.”Now qualified as a nurse, he has a message for others considering study later in life. “Don’t listen to people who say you’re too old for university,” Adesoye said. “If I can do it, others can too. People are more brilliant than they think and they’re stronger than they think.”