Marky Mark and the GED

He makes millions of dollars from his Hollywood career, but Mark Wahlberg finally accomplished something that has eluded him his entire life: a high school diploma.

Wahlberg wrote that he decided to finish his high school years after finding a course he could take online. “For almost a year, I’ve been taking classes and studying any chance I could get — on the set, traveling for work and at home. It has been both humbling and challenging, but I’m happy to report that I am officially a high school graduate, having received my diploma this summer.”

It took him over a year, having declared his intentions during an interview with David Letterman in June 2012. He also decided to see what he could do to help others struggling to stay in or go back an finish school.

And he’s already giving back to help other teens avoid missing out on getting their sheepskins. Wahlberg explained that his Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation has partnered with other organizations to provide resources to young people who commit to finishing high school. “Resources I wish I had access to as a teen,” he wrote.

The more I learn about Mark Wahlberg the more I like him. Maybe it’s just because he’s nearly my age. But it seems as though, regardless of where he’s been earlier in life, he’s figured out what matters most to him and approaches life and celebrity with a great deal more maturity and humility than many of his peers. I have no idea what led him to getting his diploma in the first place, but it sets a fine example that, even though he doesn’t really need it, he took the time to get it. And what’s more, he feels it’s important enough that, unlike too many celebrities, he’s willing to put up some of his own money to help others to do it. No “Do as I say, not as I do, and good luck with that” like we get far too often from Hollywood stars.

Here’s what he had to say to the Huffington Post.

Congratulations, Mr. Wahlberg