54-Year-Old Graduates from WPI After Cleaning it For Nearly a Decade

WORCESTER, MA—Once with a successful plastering business, Michael Vaudreuil had to learn what it feels like to lose what you've earned, and start over.

Vaudreuil, 54, graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute on May 14 after working for the college as a custodian for nearly the past ten years, reports CBS Boston.

He's one of four born to the owner of machine shop owner in Worcester, and a stay-at-home mom, and graduated from Shrewsbury High School. He got an associate's degree in aeronautical technology, but in 1978 there was a mild recession in that industry and he turned to plastering, reports the Boston Globe.

In 2007, Vaudreuil's business went under and within months, he also lost his home, car and had to file for bankruptcy. He took a job as custodian at WPI, the only job he could find, he tells CBS Boston.

WPI offers tuition to employees, and he took advantage. Vaudreuil graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering after attending classes in the day, and cleaning at night, for eight years.

“I’d read stories like this and I always wondered whether I could ever have that in my life,’’ he told the Boston Globe. “And now I’m here.’’

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