Florida International University's graduation on Tuesday was a family affair for the Arguello family.
Matriarch, Zoraya was on hand to watch her son Ruddy and daughter Jessica walk across the stage to get their degrees. Then, she made a stroll of her own, receiving her bachelor's degree in Education.
“Most of my youth I remember my mom telling us how important it was to go ahead and finish college,” she said. It was her children who pushed her to complete her education.
"What are you still waiting for? Since I had been admitted but I didn’t do anything about it," Zoraya continued.
Ruddy now has a degree in Business Administration and Jessica received her degree in social work.
FIU’s President Mark Rosenburg had all three family members on the stage at once to get an ovation form the crowd.
“I think I felt like a superstar for a moment there saying hello to the crowd and being with my family,” Jessica said.
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Among the noteworthy graduates, Evelyn Davila who now has her Ph.D. in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. In her new job, she’ll be traveling the world with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“My specific job will be related to helping nations worldwide develop surveillance systems and projects that will enable them to know how to study diseases.”
Today, Davila was surrounded by the siblings she helped support after their mother was killed in a car accident her senior year in high school.
“I am always thinking about how to make her proud," she said. "Despite her not physically being here, I think she’s around me.”
