Life Turns Around for Man Who Worked As School Cleaner for 27 Years, He’s Now Principal of the Same Workplace

Life Turns Around for Man Who Worked As School Cleaner for 27 Years, He’s Now Principal of the Same Workplace

  • Gabe Sonnier worked as a janitor for 27 years before he went back to school to get his teaching first degree and masters
  • Decades after he was encouraged to get his certificates, Gabe was promoted to the level of a principal at the same school he cleaned
  • Many social media users who were inspired by his story said that the man was really determined to be better

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A man has shown that hard work and patience are powerful enough to change anybody’s life. Gabe Sonnier worked as a janitor at Port Barre Elementary school for 25 years.

One day in 1985, the principal of the school, Westley Jones, called him aside and told him that he would rather love to see him marking papers than cleaning around, Goal Cast reports.

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Gabe advised people to not allow their situation to hold them down.
The man said patience is key in all areas of life. Photo source: Goal Cast
Source: UGC

He took steps

Gabe said the principal’s words really touched him. At 39 years old, the man went to school. He combined schooling with work, leaving little room for any leisure activity.

After getting a teaching degree, he was able to get his first job as a teacher in 2008 at Port Barre Elementary. He never stopped there, the man also got his master’s degree. Years after in 2013, he was promoted to the level of a principal, CBS reports.

He remained humble despite his new status

An interesting thing is that despite his new level, the man still cleans his own office. Speaking about his success, he said:

“Don’t let the situation that you’re in now define what you’re going to become later. I always tell them it’s not where you start, it’s how you finish.”

Below are people's reactions on Instagram:

christiegram__ said:

"Lovely to aspire to something else but wrong with being a cleaner? The world needs them too!"

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dreadreaoc said:

"Two principals with exceptional principles."

allyouneedisorange said:

"One of the nicest people I remember from my childhood was the school janitor. He was a well-respected, gentle man. I remember him although I haven't seen him in over four decades..."

jacob_the_snowman said:

"And who better to run the school, frankly."

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A boss inspired his office cleaner

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that a Nigerian man, Oluwanishola Akeju, on Friday, July 2, narrated a significant encounter he had with his employee.

The Itsmy Hq CEO said he saw his cleaner taking selfies in his office as he walked in one morning. The worker had to quickly hide his phone when he saw him.

Oluwanishola said he requested his phone and asked him to sit on his chair. When the cleaner did that, the CEO took proper shots of him.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Joseph Omotayo avatar

Joseph Omotayo (HOD Human-Interest) Joseph Omotayo has been writing for the human interest desk since 2019 and is currently the head of the desk. He graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, with a degree in Literature in English in 2016. He once worked for Afridiaspora, OlisaTV & CLR. He is a 2022/2023 Kwame Karikari Fact-Checking fellow. He can be reached via: joseph.omotayo@corp.legit.ng.

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