Activation Lock for iPhone 4s

Hello!

I recently found my old iPhone 4s that I used in middle school and I thought it would be a great idea to update it after never updating it in the 2 years I had it. Well, after updating it had sent me to the activation lock screen and I managed to find the account and password, change the email to a real email, and go back to the activation lock, but it still wanted the old email.

I don't have the box that the phone came in because it was a hand me down from my cousin! So I wouldn't be able to contact apple for them to remove the lock themselves.

Is there anything I could do, or should I just recycle it </3 ?

Thank you !