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At 63 years old, the bricklayer Joaquim Corsino dos Santos, a resident of Cariacica, in Espírito Santo, saved money wall by wall, faced years of cycling from home to college in Vitória, and achieved the diploma that life had postponed; now he aims for the OAB and the old dream of becoming a police chief
Some people measure the distance to a diploma in years of study. Joaquim Corsino dos Santos measured his in kilometers cycled. Every day, he faced 42 kilometers by bicycle between his home in Cariacica and the Law School in Vitória, Espírito Santo, because there was no money for transportation but plenty of desire to learn. According to the Migalhas portal, in January 2016, the bricklayer Joaquim Corsino dos Santos received, at 63 years old, dressed in a gown and graduation cap, the diploma in Law after years of making this daily bicycle journey. The gown arrived on the back of the bike.
The story began long before college, on the construction site. According to Migalhas, Joaquim was born in Itaumirim, Minas Gerais, arrived in Espírito Santo at 18, only had a technical degree in Administration, and after failing the entrance exam for Accounting Sciences in the 80s, became a construction helper and later a bricklayer. The dream of studying was kept along with the money.
The diploma that the bricklayer saved wall by wall
Every brick laid by Joaquim carried a piece of the future. According to Migalhas, with each wall he built, he set aside a portion of his earnings, and over the years saved R$ 55,000 to pay for his studies, without stopping building his own house in Cariacica. It was a bricklayer’s savings, brick by brick, transformed into college tuition.
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His motivation was never status, it was purpose. In a statement reproduced by Migalhas, Joaquim summarized: “I am a guy who likes honest things. I always wanted to take a Law course to help other people”. The phrase explains why he agreed to pedal so much for so long.
It’s worth remembering the size of the financial sacrifice behind these R$ 55,000. Saving this amount with a bricklayer’s salary, over the years, means giving up comfort, leisure, and a thousand little things in daily life. Each real set aside came from a tight budget, which makes the diploma even more significant: it wasn’t a scholarship, it wasn’t an inheritance, it was manual labor turning into study.
The setbacks that delayed the dream
The path to the cap and gown wasn’t straight. According to Migalhas, Joaquim started his degree in 2008, at a private college, but had to stop after four semesters. An unforeseen event derailed the plan just when it was gaining momentum.
The reason was a breach of trust that cost dearly. According to Migalhas, he recounted that a friend borrowed R$ 4,500 and didn’t pay it back, which forced him to interrupt the course to save money again and cover the entire cost of college. Returning to full-time work was the price of continuing to dream.
This type of setback permanently derails many people. Losing a large sum, especially lent to a friend, and having to restart savings from scratch is the kind of blow that would make most give up the course. Joaquim, however, treated the fall as a pause, not an end, and returned to laying bricks with the same goal in mind.
The 42-kilometer bike ride that became routine
In 2012, the bricklayer resumed the course, and then began the saga that became famous. According to Migalhas, from then on Joaquim made the daily journey from his home in Cariacica to the college in Vitória, a 42-kilometer ride by bicycle. Rain or shine, the bike was the official transport to the classroom.
It’s worth imagining the effort behind this account. Forty-two kilometers a day, round trip, is the kind of routine many wouldn’t do even by car, let alone cycling after a day’s work. It was this persistence, transformed into cycling, that sustained the diploma until graduation. The bicycle became the symbol that there was no money for the bus, but there was no lack of willingness to attend class.
The next target: the OAB and the police officer’s uniform
For Joaquim, the diploma is a starting point, not an endpoint. According to Migalhas, his next goal is to pass the OAB exam and then become a police officer. The construction site is left behind, but the professional journey is just beginning.
What drives this plan is the same desire to serve. According to Migalhas, Joaquim explained what inspires him: “When I read the Constitution in Article Five, which states that everyone has equal rights, I see that there is a lot of good in it and I would like to contribute to that”. From the wall to the Constitution, his measure has always been to help others.
Stories like Joaquim’s touch so many people because they break the idea that there is a right time to study. In Brazil, it is increasingly common to see older students returning to college, whether to change careers or to fulfill a plan that life postponed, and the construction worker became a symbol of this movement. He wasn’t competing with younger colleagues in age, but in determination, few came close.
The Law course, by the way, is one of the most sought-after in the country, with high competition and tuition fees that weigh on the pocket of those who depend on their own salary. Facing this cost with a construction worker’s income, and on top of that, the daily bicycle commute, shows the size of the barrier Joaquim overcame. Each obstacle removed, from money to distance, was another step towards the gown.
And there is a lesson that the construction worker’s story leaves for anyone. There is no age or mileage that can erase a goal for someone who decides to pursue it. At 63 years old, after saving money wall by wall and cycling a daily marathon, Joaquim proved that a postponed dream is not a lost dream, and that the gown fits anyone who has the courage to pedal after it, no matter the distance between the construction site and the courtroom. Tell us in the comments: would you have the stamina to cycle 42 km a day for a diploma?
Watch: the story of the construction worker who became a Bachelor of Law
The case gained national attention and appeared in a video. The channel Línguas Na Esquina Notícias showed the journey of the construction worker who graduated in Law after cycling 42 km a day to study, the same story recorded by Migalhas. Tell us in the comments: what would you do to fulfill an old dream?
