Great-grandmother earns GED

79-year-old left school in eighth grade to farm in 1940s; hopes to inspire

Get weird & wonderful news on Twitter

Looking for more strange and fun stories and oddball videos? Follow @msnbc_wow.

Video: Wonderful World

Whales celebrate Christmas in Japan
Nov. 16: A scuba diving Santa delivers gifts to the whales at an aquarium in Yokohama, Japan. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.

Baby saved after being trapped in washer

Tim McGraw turns spotlight on hurricane recovery

Despite hard times, volunteer offers her time

Doctor treats the uninsured

Your turn!

Inspirational athletes
In honor of the 2008 Olympics, we're celebrating the athletes in your own life who inspire greatness.

updated 9:58 p.m. ET March 19, 2008

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Ola Mae Venable spent only three days in eighth grade before deciding she'd rather work on her family's farm.

That was in the 1940s. Now, at the age of 79, Venable is a great-grandmother and the proud holder of a diploma.

Venable earned a General Educational Development diploma on Tuesday when she passed her final math test.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

She sailed through science, social studies and other tests, but math didn't come easily. Venable spent the last five months studying practice tests and working with a tutor to learn algebra and geometry, The Winston-Salem Journal reports.

She said she didn't know it would be quite so difficult, but she was determined to finish. She didn't want to drop out of school twice.

Venable now has six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. She hopes to inspire other people who think they're too old to finish school.