A metro Detroit mother and daughter graduated high school together over the weekend.
Maria Ramirez López and her daughter Ashley both attended the Utica Community Schools commencement ceremony on Saturday.
Maria Ramirez López left school as a teen to help raise her younger siblings after her parents split.
“My mom was working two to three jobs,” she said. “My mother had given up so much for me. I knew I had to help her.”
Ramirez López wanted to make sure that history did not repeat itself when she said her own children were struggling with their education.
“I did not want my kids to give up like I did,” she said. “I didn’t want the same story to repeat.”
It was then that she made a bet with her kids – I’ll go back to finish my education and we will see who can graduate first.
“At first it was a little battle but after a while, it got us to move forward and motivated us to keep going,” she said. The challenge worked.
While in school, Maria was still taking care of her six kids.
“Once she went back, she said – ‘look, we are going to get through this together,’” Rivera said of her mother. “She has always been my biggest supporter. She was always like ‘you’ve got this. You can do it. Just do your work.’”
Both plan to pursue their education at Macomb Community College – Ramirez López for culinary arts and Rivera to pursue a career in the medical field.
