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At 70 Years Old, A Journey Marked by School Work, Resuming Studies, and Overcoming Challenges Draws Attention by Resulting in An Unprecedented Approval in Pedagogy at The State University.
“To be successful, you need determination, willpower, charisma, and character.”
The phrase, which could sound like just another motivational advice on social media, summarizes the journey of Dona Elenice Pereira, 70 Years Old, who was accepted into the Pedagogy Course at the State University of Northern Fluminense (Uenf) after decades working in general services at a public school and facing school delays, grief, and depression.
The new university student is a former student of the Goitacá Popular Preparatory Course, an extension project of the Federal Institute of Fluminense (IFF) – Campos Centro Campus, aimed at public school students preparing for selection processes of the institute itself and for the Enem.
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It was with the score of the national exam that she secured her spot in undergraduate studies this year, 2025, after five years attending the preparatory course and resuming an interrupted relationship with school.
Childhood, Rural Work, and The Beginning of The Educational Journey
Elenice’s story begins in Natividade, in the interior of Rio de Janeiro, where she grew up in a large family, the daughter of a farmer, and one among nine siblings.
From an early age, she helped with the planting of corn and beans, in a routine marked by a lack of basic resources.
“I didn’t have clothes to wear or shoes to put on. My father took my older brother out of school when he was eight years old and made him work on a farm because he had to work, as ordered by the farmer,” she recalls.
At 16, she left her parents’ house to work and contribute to the family income.
At that moment, school took a back seat.
The immediate need for employment pushed education to the bottom of the priority list.
Resuming Studies in Campos and Unexpected Encouragement
Years later, already living in Campos dos Goytacazes (RJ), Elenice found a new chance to return to the classroom.
At around 25 years old, she was working as a cleaner and babysitter when she received encouragement from her employer to resume formal studies.
“I only had the 3rd grade, and she enrolled me in the XV de Novembro in Mobral (Brazilian Literacy Movement). I completed the 8th grade and then went to Nilo Peçanha and then to the Liceum. I trained to be a teacher and in the afternoon I interned with the C.A. children.”
During this time, she began to divide her time between domestic work, studies, and internships with children.
Even so, her academic journey was interrupted again.
Motherhood, the need to support the household, and prioritizing her children’s education spoke louder.
Prioritizing Children and Completing High School at 51 Years Old
Although she desired to finish her studies, Elenice chose to prioritize her children’s education.
She states that she concentrated her efforts to ensure they had access to higher education, even resorting to Fies (Student Financing Fund).
“I needed to pay for my son’s college. With Fies, I managed to get a 50% scholarship and paid for his Production Engineering course.”
Only in 2006, at 51 years old, did she manage to finish high school at General Dutra School, with her son already in college.
The final stage of basic education was marked by difficulties in some subjects.
“I had a lot of trouble. I’m not good at Math. I prefer Geography and Portuguese.”
The preferences for humanities helped build the foundation of content she would carry forward in her preparatory course and later for the Enem.
Grief, Depression, and Reunion with The Classroom
The path to university was almost interrupted definitively in 2013, when Elenice lost her daughter, at 27 years old, due to cancer in the bone marrow.
The grief triggered a case of depression, and she began using controlled medications to sleep and face her routine.
“When my daughter passed away in 2013, I fell into depression, and Marcelo (my son) was already studying here (IFF Campos Centro). One day he came home, and I had taken a lot of sleeping pills, and he told me to go check out the course. This was in 2015. I signed up, came to classes, and gradually my depression improved, and I reduced my controlled medications. I came home happy.”
The contact with the Goitacá Popular Preparatory Course functioned as an emotional and educational turning point.
Going to the preparatory course, initially a gesture of encouragement from her son, transformed into a concrete project to enter higher education.
From Cleaning Classrooms to The University Student Card
Over 38 years, Elenice worked in general services at a public school, taking care of classrooms that she now returns to as a university student.
Between cleaning hallways, organizing desks, and maintaining the school environment, she accompanied entire generations of students without being able to be, at that moment, in the role of a learner.
With her approval in Pedagogy at Uenf, obtained through the Enem score, she ends one phase as a school worker and begins another as a higher education student.
During her time in the preparatory course, Elenice valued the teachers who accompanied her, especially in Geography and Portuguese, areas in which she showed greater affinity.
Education as a Turning Point and Continuity
Looking back at her own journey, Elenice summarizes the path marked by night study, daily work, and family responsibilities.
“As I look at my past, my childhood, my youth, my suffering from studying at night and working during the day, cooking, washing clothes, taking care of animals, cleaning, and taking children to school while still getting scolded by the boss, I realize now that I managed to go beyond my limits that I thought were very difficult, and it wasn’t so hard to get to where I got. It was just about having good will and a little sense in my head. Many give up along the way or go down the wrong path.”
The journey reveals the impact of policies for access to education, such as popular preparatory courses and student financing programs, especially for those who interrupted their education and return to the classroom decades later.
By entering university after a lifetime of caring for school spaces, Elenice raises a reflection that resonates beyond her own story: how many other people with similar trajectories could follow the same path if they had access to opportunities like the ones she found?
Eu conclui o ensino médio com 38 anos, fiz o cursinho Educafro, fiz pedagogia e sou concursada desde 2017, primeiro como auxiliar e já estou na segunda prefeitura como professora, desde 2021, não foi fácil, somente quem trabalhou desde a infância entende a realidade desta senhora, usou os mesmos sapatos e andou pelo mesmo caminho. Para passar em concurso eu via aulas no YouTube, não podia pagar cursinhos. Parabéns e não desiste nunca de seus sonhos.
Uma pena a escolha ser tão ruim. A área da educação só traz prejuízo à saúde.
Pedagogia é um curso que você pode atuar em diversas áreas: educação, saude e etc. Sou pedagoga e há 15 anos trabalho na saude
Uma pena é ela só conseguir estudar com 70 anos e não o curso que escolheu.
Meus parabéns D.Zilda por esta conquista e determinação e um exemplo para muitos que muitas querem desistir! Deus abençoe!