plug away #3

イギリスのWest Virginia University で94歳の男性が75年以上をかけて大学を卒業しました。この男性は第二次世界大戦での徴兵を乗り越え，さらに就職して家族を養いながら，勉強を続けました。記事はTIMEからの引用です。
plug awayは「(時間をかけて)一生懸命働く, «…に» 熱心に取り組む」という意味の表現（『プログレッシブ英和中辞典』小学館）。また，過去にもブログで採り上げられていますのでそちらもぜひ参照してください。（Koyamamoto）
cf. http://d.hatena.ne.jp/A30/20150407/1428355569

94-Year-Old Man Finally Graduates From College, More Than 75 Years After He Started
His education was interrupted by World War II and then his work
A 94-year-old man will graduate from West Virginia University (WVU) this month after working on his degree on and off for more than 75 years.
Anthony Brutto of Morgantown enrolled at WVU in 1939 and started studying engineering, physical education and industrial arts before being drafted into World War II and serving in the Army Air Corps, according to a WVU press release.
He started his degree again when he came back home, but he soon had to stop taking classes because his wife fell ill.
From then on, he worked as a machinist in factories that manufactured aircraft before retiring in the mid-’80s to make wooden sculptures of birds and wild animals, as well as jewelry. But he still kept plugging away at his coursework.
“It was always important to me to graduate,” he said, according to the release.
http://time.com/3852980/94-year-old-man-graduates-college-west-virginia-university/