According to Indeed, the average salary for a nanny in New York City is over $50,000. It can be a tough job at times, but it’s one that can pay the bills and often times doesn’t require higher education.

But for Lyn Thomas, a nanny of 30 years, no matter the job she held, a higher education was always something she dreamed of.

Now she’s the proud owner of an associate’s degree and has plans to attend Hunter College where she’ll work towards her bachelor’s degree.

When Thomas was 18 years old she moved from the Caribbean island of Grenada to to New York to be with her mother. She eventually found work cleaning houses and working as a nanny.

When Thomas was 18 years old she moved from the Caribbean island of Grenada to to New York to be with her mother. She eventually found work cleaning houses and working as a nanny.

She dreamed of completing school, but one thing led to another and decades passed.

It wasn’t until Thomas was 48 years old that she earned her GED, and then just a few years later at 51 she earned her associate’s degree in public health from Borough of Manhattan Community College.

Thomas was even on the dean’s list!