‘Failure was never an option’ — 67-year-old Samuel Victor Addo becomes a lawyer

At an age when many people would be content to enjoy retirement, Samuel Victor Addo returned to the classroom to pursue a long-held ambition of becoming a lawyer. The retired professional, who built a successful career in corporate America, was called to the Ghana Bar at 67 this year (2026) after taking on the demands of legal education alongside classmates younger than his children.

For Mr Addo, the experience was challenging but deeply rewarding. He said his determination to complete what he had started kept him going through the demanding years of legal studies. Speaking on Joy FM’s Personality Profile with Lexis Bill on Thursday, October 22, he said studying alongside younger students was not an obstacle but one of the most refreshing aspects of the experience.

“When I worked in the US Delta Airlines, a lot of my managers were maybe 30 or 40 years old. Younger people. So I’m very used to having young people in authority that I report to and I find it very refreshing and so being in class with young people was thrilling. It wasn’t an inhibition at all. It was a good thing, a good experience for me,” he said. ‘It wasn’t a walk in the park’ Mr Addo said the rigours of legal education demanded discipline, sacrifice and a willingness to devote long hours to studying.

He explained that attending lectures was only the beginning, as students also had to read extensively, understand complex legal concepts and digest the material taught in class. “As you know, the law is a very rigorous endeavour. So it takes a lot of dedication. It takes a lot of self-sacrifice,” he said. “You have to be in class to even understand the concepts that are being taught.

And after that, you have to read and understand and digest what was just imparted to you. So it wasn’t a walk in the park. It was a difficult thing and it’s really stretched me, but I’m very grateful that I’ve been able to overcome and today I’m a lawyer.” His journey required him to adapt to the routines of student life after years in professional employment, but he said he was determined to see it through. ‘Failure was never an option’ Mr Addo said his approach to the challenge was shaped by a personal rule: once he committed himself to something, he would not give up.

“I am somebody, once I start something, I will never give up, so failure or quitting was never an option for me. So whatever it took to succeed, I had to do it,” he said. He recalled waking up early to attend lectures scheduled for 7 a.m., sometimes arriving to find that he was the only student there. “I was very determined and very focused, and failure or quitting was not an option,” he said.

His call to the Bar at 67 marks a significant milestone in a journey that took him from a successful career in the United States back to the classroom in Ghana. Mr Addo’s experience also offers a reminder that professional ambitions and learning need not end with retirement, even when the path towards a new qualification demands considerable sacrifice and persistence.