Graduation is a family affair for LBCC alumnae
The family that learns together earns degrees together.
At least that’s what happened to Tina Mejia, her twin sister, Lisa Rivera, and the latter’s daughters, Leah and Jena Jimenez.
All four wore matching graduation regalia last week when they graduated from Long Beach City College. Mejia and Rivera received associate degrees and certificates in various business subjects while Leah Jimenez graduated with degrees in foreign language, and baking and pastry arts. Jena Jimenez — a former president’s ambassador, student trustee on the Associated Student Body cabinet, and a Cheer Squad member — earned four associate degrees and will transfer to UCLA to study biology. Her goal is to become an osteopathic doctor.
“I am so amazed; it’s crazy how it really aligned,” Jena Jimenez said. “I started taking different classes here and there, thanks to the
Steam Fitters and Pipe Fitters Union Local 250 scholarship that I kept winning, but I wasn’t clear what I wanted to do. So, I decided to take some time off.”
Jena Jimenez took one semester off, in fall 2016, before returning in the spring.
But that decision was a game-changer for Rivera, who decided to use her daughter’s scholarship money to go back to school as well.
“I had taken classes more than 20 years ago,” said Rivera. “I was a single parent raising two girls. When my daughter took a semester off, that was a surprise. But then I said to myself, ‘She can go to school, so why can’t I?’ ”
Rivera took a combination of classes on campus as well as online, especially during the coronavirus pandemic when virtual learning was, for the most part, all that was available. It was a challenge working during the day and taking classes at night, she said, but that left her justifiably proud that she completed her studies with a 4.0 grade point average and a place on the dean’s list.
“It was a journey,” Rivera said. “But we had some great times.”
Mejia, who was born nine minutes after Rivera — “I’m younger and prettier,” she said with a laugh — applied to LBCC when her sister did.
“After I found out that my niece (Jena Jimenez) was taking time off and my sister applied, I said, ‘I’m coming with you,’” Mejia said.
“I was living with my sister when we started, so we started taking classes together and doing homework together. We were determined to complete our education.”
While Rivera has been able to keep working as an administrator for Local 250, Mejia hasn’t been so fortunate.
Her 20-year position as an administrative assistant at another company was eliminated because of COVID-19. But that hasn’t stop her from continuing her education.
“We encouraged each other and helped each other study,” Mejia said. “It’s been a long road. I haven’t been working since COVID, but
I kept my grades up and stayed on the dean’s list. I’ve been applying for fiveto-six jobs a day, but nothing pans out.”
Leah Jimenez, meanwhile, is a year younger than her sister and because Jena Jimenez took a semester off, the two finished their LBCC studies at the same time.
“It was exciting to tell my friends that I was graduating with my mom, my aunt and my sister,” Leah Jimenez said. “We are family and we supported each other, especially through the pandemic.”
All the women expressed joy that everything worked out, but said they were surprised they finished at the same time.
“We started as a team,” Mejia said, “and we will finish as a team.”
“She is my rock and I don’t know what I would do without her,” she added about her sister. “She was there for me.”
Jena Jimenez, meanwhile, said she was glad she decided to return to school when she did.
“It’s been a crazy road,” the 24-year-old Jena Jimenez said. “During my time off, I felt like I could be doing more, so I’m so glad I went back when my mom, my aunt and sister were there.”