Speaker A
This story got 15 million views in Brazil. Here's the post in English. My grandfather got added to a college group chat by mistake and refused to leave.
A 76-year-old grandfather joins a college group chat by mistake, becomes its beloved mentor teaching accounting, and is invited to speak at the college.
Key Takeaways
- Age and life experience can be valuable in unexpected settings, and an older person can become a respected mentor to younger people.
- Practical, real-world examples make complex subjects like accounting easier to understand.
- Warmth, humor, and genuine engagement can build community across generations.
What the video covers
- A 76-year-old grandfather, Osvaldo, is accidentally added to a 43-student business school group chat after changing his phone number to one previously used by a college student.
- He stays in the group, and when a student asks about depreciation on an accounting exam, he answers using his decades of experience running a general store.
- His accounting lessons use store analogies, such as comparing inventory to cheese, which the students find memorable.
- He signs his messages 'Sincerely, Osvaldo,' a phrase that spreads to the whole group and becomes its dialect.
- He scolds students about attendance and punctuality, which motivates them to confirm their participation in group projects.
- At the end of the semester the class invites him to their barbecue, where he is a highlight, dancing with his wife and offering career advice.
- Three students pass the accounting course with his help, and one student's 85 grade is celebrated as a result of his 'cheese method.'
- The accounting professor learns of his influence and invites him to give a talk titled 'Accounting in Practice.'
- The story is told as a heartwarming, humorous account that went viral with 15 million views in Brazil.
- The video closes with the students inviting him to join their next group and him confirming first, underscoring the theme that he is exactly the right member.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
Now he's its most important member. My grandpa is 76. He changed his phone number which apparently belonged to a college student. Two days later he got added to Business School Seniors with 43 students. Anyone else would have left.
Speaker A
My grandpa is not anyone else. He watched silently for a week to understand the environment he explained like an anthropologist. Then one Thursday a kid posted, Guys, is depreciation on the accounting exam? I'm lost. My grandpa owned a general store.
Speaker A
He learned accounting over 40 years behind the counter. He couldn't resist. Depreciation always comes up, son, on the exam and in life. Study the straight line method first. That's what professors like. Sincerely, Osvaldo. The group froze. Who's Osvaldo? That number
Speaker A
joined last week. I thought he was a transfer student. Guys, Osvaldo is an old man. Confronted, [snorts] my grandpa introduced himself with an ambassador's dignity. Osvaldo, 76. I just got this number. I'm not leaving. You need help with accounting and apparently
Speaker A
punctuality too. Who is messaging at 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday? Go to sleep, young lady. The group adopted him on the spot.
Speaker A
And so began the Osvaldo era. He explains accounting with store examples. Inventory is like cheese. Buy the wrong stuff and you'll watch it rot. He accidentally started a catchphrase. He signs everything Sincerely, Osvaldo. Now all 43 kids do it. Sincerely, Mariana.
Speaker A
It became the group's dialect. He scolds them about attendance. Nobody has confirmed for Saturday's group project.
Speaker A
In my day we call that bad manners. Sincerely, Osvaldo. Suddenly everyone says they'll be there Saturday. The man became the class's collective superego.
Speaker A
At semester's end the class officially invited him to their barbecue. My grandpa went in a dress shirt. He brought my grandmother and 4 lb of good sausage because students buy cheap meat.
Speaker A
He was the star. He told stories, gave career advice, and danced with grandma. The kids even switched from Brazilian funk to a slow song just for them.
Speaker A
There's a photo of him in borrowed sunglasses, surrounded by 20 students striking the same pose. The caption, Dad of the Semester. And here's what nobody expected. Three students passed accounting with his help. One posted their grade in the chat. Got an 85
Speaker A
thanks to Osvaldo's cheese method. My grandpa printed that screenshot. It's on his fridge with a magnet beside his grandkids' photo. Same fridge privileges. The college heard through the accounting professor who figured out why everyone kept citing dairy products
Speaker A
on the exam. They invited my grandpa to give a talk, Accounting in Practice, 40 years behind the counter. He's preparing slides. My cousin's teaching him now.
Speaker A
He's already chosen his opening slide. Sincerely, Osvaldo. Next semester is their last before graduation. They've already told him, you're coming with us.
Speaker A
He confirmed in the new group before anyone else. The number was wrong. The member was exactly right.
Topics:grandfatheraccountinggroup chatmentorshipintergenerationalviral storycollege studentsheartwarmingBrazilstorytelling
