Most people think of school as something you finish when you’re young.
But for Lola Campos, school didn’t really begin until she was already well into her seventies.
Now 92 years old, Lola is the oldest student at the Adult Education Centre (CEPA) in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where she finally learned to read and write after spending most of her life caring for other people.
Leaving School At Six Years Old
Lola first went to school when she was six.
But she barely had time to sit at her desk.
After only a couple of months she had to leave to help her godmother look after the children. Back then it was fairly common for families to help each other out, and Lola simply did what was needed.
“I was more in her house than my own,” she remembers.
She doesn’t look back on that time as a sacrifice. For her, it was simply part of life in those days… everyone doing their bit to support the family.
Even when her godmother later moved to Argentina, they kept in contact for years.
Lola would call from public phone boxes because, as she says with a smile, that was easier than writing letters.
Caring For Her Mother From The Age Of Eight
Life became even more difficult when her mother fell seriously ill.
She suffered from asthma and heart problems, and Lola, who was still just a child herself, stepped in to care for her.
From the age of eight she devoted much of her time to looking after her mother, staying by her side until she passed away at the age of 51.
That meant more than two decades where any idea of returning to school simply had to wait.
The Desire To Learn Never Disappeared
Even though she couldn’t attend school, Lola always wanted to learn.
As a child she would secretly pick up books and try to figure out the words on her own.
She did it quietly so her brothers wouldn’t laugh at her mistakes.
“Then I would read it to my mother,” she says.
Education wasn’t really an option for any of her siblings either, although it wasn’t a family without culture. Her father was a military musician, and her mother spoke Spanish, French and Latin, and even played the harp.
Always Putting Others First
Life continued to test her.
After her mother passed away, one of her sisters became ill, and once again Lola stepped forward to help.
She looked after her sister’s children while her sister battled the illness.
In fact, she even postponed her own marriage because of it.
“I told my husband that my family came first,” she explained at the time.
Eventually she married at 27, after her sister passed away. She describes the years with her husband and their three children as the happiest of her life.
Today she has a large family around her: four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and even a great-great-granddaughter.
“They’re the greatest gift God has given me,” she says proudly.
Finally Returning To School
It wasn’t until she was about 77 years old that Lola finally returned to education.
She enrolled at the Adult Education Centre in Las Palmas, determined to learn the things she had missed as a child.
At first she felt embarrassed walking into the classroom, but her husband encouraged her.
“He always told me I was capable,” she recalls.
Her reason for going back was simple.
“I wanted to recover what I lost when I was a child.”
Still Going At 92
These days Lola attends classes twice a week, and she rarely misses one.
In fact, her daughter says she actually gets bored when the school holidays arrive.
Age has brought a few challenges. A glaucoma condition has left her blind in one eye and with reduced vision in the other.
But that hasn’t stopped her.
She may not be able to read like she once did, but she still writes essays and works through maths problems in her own way.
One of her favourite pieces of work was a poem about Las Canteras beach, a place that means a lot to her.
After suffering blood clots in her legs, she used to wake up early each morning to swim in the sea to help her recovery.
“I kept the pain to myself,” she says. “I’ve always been like that.”
Proof That It’s Never Too Late
In 2024 the education centre celebrated its 40th anniversary, and Lola received a special tribute as the oldest student in the Canary Islands.
Even now she finds it hard to believe.
But her story has quietly become an example of something quite simple.
Perseverance doesn’t have an age limit.
And sometimes the things we missed when we were young… can still be found later in life.
If you’d like the full report about Lola’s story, you can read it here.