Siblings work to be family's first generation of college graduates

COURTESY PHOTO The Gomez family attend Edison State College and hope to graduate in May. Maria, Pepe, Juan and Marisol Gomez are Edison State College students set to graduate with associate's degrees this May. The act of graduating is not that momentous in and of itself, nor is the fact that they are all attending the same school. What sets this young group of students and siblings apart is that they are not just working toward their individual degrees, they are making sure each of them make it — together.

They are part of Edison's Student Support Services, a federally funded program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture that helps low-income, disabled and first-generation students succeed and graduate, said Paula Daily, the program's coordinator.

This year, 200 students including the Gomez family, are participating in the program.

They go to school together every day — usually in Maria's vehicle. They study together and share a computer after classes in one of the college offices. And Juan, Pepe and Marisol each take turns watching over Maria's child, Gia, 3, while she is in class.

In the evening, they go to their nearby homes in Lehigh Acres — Maria lives with her husband and daughter and the others live with their parents, Jose and Margarita.

The clan plans to go together to Florida Gulf Coast University next year to pursue bachelor's degrees in their respective fields. Between rigorous studies, the siblings spend their time helping their parents with their produce business.

No wild Friday nights or lazy Saturday mornings for this industrious family. Every moment counts.

"We try to not make any mistakes," said Juan Gomez.

The Gomezes each have different majors: Maria, 27, is an accounting major who hopes to get a CPA license; Pepe, 24, is an education major; Juan, 20, is studying engineering; and Marisol, 17, wants to be a physical therapist.

Marisol is a Hope Scholar and the other siblings are all bright, hard-working students.

Maria, who is married and filled with mom responsibilities along with her studies, is also a STAR Corp. member (Students Together Achieving Results) in the Student Support Services program.

Strong family bonds are what have helped the Gomez brothers and sisters to not only survive but also thrive. Originally from Cortazar, Guanajuato, Mexico, the siblings know hardship as their family has struggled to put food on the table and even to have a home at times.

For Juan, there is no room for failure or any temptation that might derail his dream of becoming a civil engineer.

"It's not hard to say no when you have a vision," he said.

The Gomezes' parents instilled a sense of family, focus and goal setting early on their lives — even though neither has more than a year or two of elementary education.

Their mom, Margarita, 48, would not let the siblings "hang out" or socialize with people until she felt they had a strong understanding of right and wrong. And coming home and doing homework was mandatory. Juan recalls the difficulty in learning English when they moved here from Mexico about a decade ago. Juan said they used to cry when given 15-minute school assignments that would take them hours to complete as they would painstakingly look up every word they didn't know in the dictionary.

Maria wants a good life for her family. She makes sure she and her siblings get to school on time. She is the chauffeur and big sister.

And her brothers are her saviors in the babysitting and math department. Both brothers are math whizzes and help Maria whenever she gets stuck on her work. But what really helps Maria is her siblings' willingness to watch her daughter while she is in class.

The siblings chuckle about how much Gia loves going to school and wants to learn like them.

Ms. Daily and the staff at Edison State College are both touched and impressed by the young family's efforts to be successful.

"They don't have a lot," Ms. Daily said. "They have to combine their resources. They are doing incredibly. They're studious.

"They're just a lovely family," Ms. Daily said. "It's heartwarming."