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63-Year-Old Jeronimo Bispo dos Santos, a Recycling Picker from Camaçari (Bahia), Returned to Study, Accumulated Qualifications Throughout Life, and Completed a Postgraduate Program at UFBA, Showing That Learning in the Northeast Has No Expiry Date.
If you think it’s “too late” to go back to studying, the story of an elderly man from Bahia will make you rethink that. Jeronimo Bispo dos Santos lived the kind of routine that often crushes dreams: he started working as a child, interrupted his schooling, needed to pursue a livelihood, and yet never abandoned his desire to learn.
The result came in the most symbolic way possible: more than 60 years of life and a postgraduate certificate in hand, from the most traditional federal university in the state.
A Lifetime Between Hard Work and the Will to Study
Jeronimo has always had a passion for studying. Since he was a child, back in Cruz das Almas, in the Recôncavo Baiano region, he stated that he found it beautiful to see children going to school.
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However, life became tough early on: at 9 years old, he started working to help his mother raise his younger siblings.
Later, at 18, he stopped attending school just when he moved to Camaçari in search of a better opportunity.
Despite the interruptions, he did not give up. In 1986, at the age of 24, he managed to resume his studies and graduated as a Technician in Industrial Instrumentation.
Then, in the 1990s, he completed high school in Business Administration. Decades later, in 2012, he obtained a degree in Administration from Unifacs.
The Achievement at the Federal University of Bahia – UFBA: Postgraduate Program at 63
The most recent turning point occurred this year, 2025. Jeronimo, at 63, received his completion certificate for the Postgraduate Program in Socially Integrative Solid Waste Management, a course from the Polytechnic School of UFBA, a federal university he referred to as a long-held dream.
The certificate delivery ceremony took place on Tuesday (7), according to a report published by Jornal Correio on October 10, 2025.
The course is promoted by the Polytechnic School of UFBA as a training focused on the theme of waste and integrated management, with a social and environmental focus, in line with what the program name proposes. For institutional reference, see the course page for Socially Integrative Solid Waste Management (GERSI).
Coopmarc, Camaçari, and the Double Routine: Administering and Picking
The diploma is no “decoration” for Jeronimo. He works as an administrator and recycling picker at the Cooperative of Recycling Materials of Camaçari (Coopmarc), where he has worked since 1999.
It was during this time that he joined the cooperative at the invitation of a friend while balancing his job as an instrument technician in the petrochemical complex with picking on the streets.
He describes in detail what his day-to-day was like: “I would leave the complex, come to the cooperative, take the platform truck with the grate, and we would go picking cardboard.”
On the streets, he also faced judgments, even from people close to him. Jeronimo heard provocations and questions but responded directly:
“People would find me on the street and say: ‘You’re a technician picking cardboard?’. And I would reply: ‘No, I’m not picking because I want to; it’s because I need to. I’m part of the cooperative, and I want to help.’”
63-Year-Old: The “Grandpa of the Class” and the Real Price of Discipline
The academic journey always demanded a lot in terms of routine. Jeronimo describes needing to exchange leisure for study and spend Sundays and holidays immersed in work and research.
He mentions that when he wasn’t at the cooperative, he was studying at home with a group of four colleagues, and even faced comments suggesting that studying was “showing off.”
“When I wasn’t at the cooperative, I was at home studying, researching, working on assignments with the group we formed of four colleagues. People would say: ‘You’ve gotten rich and stuff.’ I would say: ‘No, folks, I’m studying; it’s quite a rush.’”
At 51, when he became president of the cooperative and started his undergraduate studies (in 2008), he mentioned that he was the “grandpa of the class” and that learning was no longer “as simple” as before.
He candidly sums up what many people over 60 years old feel but don’t always express: “We already know that our minds are not as sharp, and we forget things; we need to put in more effort. That’s why I had to stop, stay at home to study.”
Why the Story of 63-Year-Old Jeronimo Matters for an Aging Brazil
Jeronimo’s journey is not only moving because it is beautiful. It resonates with a country that is aging rapidly.
The IBGE indicates an increase in the elderly population in Brazil and maintains a section dedicated to population projections, used as a reference to understand aging and plan public policies.
There’s another point: when a recycling picker specializes in solid waste, it directly touches on a central theme for cities, sanitation, and inclusion.
The National Solid Waste Policy establishes guidelines for management and discusses prioritizing cooperatives and associations of pickers in public urban cleaning and waste management services, reinforcing why the qualification and strengthening of organizations like cooperatives are important. See the law in full at Planalto (Law No. 12.305/2010).
In practice, this is also the subject of research and public debate. An example is the work by Ipea on the universe of recyclers, discussing recycling, social inclusion, and challenges in the sector.
The Phrase He Repeats That Explains Everything
In the end, Jeronimo doesn’t sell fantasies. He speaks of choices and renunciations, in the most down-to-earth way possible—and the message serves anyone in the Northeast and all over Brazil who is thinking about starting over:
“When we want something in life, we have to give up what is less important. Because at that moment, we chose something we deemed more significant.”
What struck you most about Jeronimo Bispo’s story, an elderly man who proved that studying has no right time? Leave your comment and if you know someone who needs to read this today, share the post.
parabens isto mostra a dedicaçao e vontade