A Texas woman has been helping her grandfather achieve his dream of graduating college. Now, they're crossing the finish line together.
Melanie Salazar celebrated her graduation from the University of Texas at San Antonio on December 11 with a bachelor of arts in communications. The 23-year-old wasn't the only graduate in the family, however. Rene Neira, her 88-year-old grandfather, also received a degree of recognition in economics.
It's been a long road to that stage for Rene. "Since the 1950s, he has been working toward his bachelor's degree and it has been one of his life goal and dreams," Melanie explained to Good Morning America.
"But in the '50s he fell in love and got married and started a family, so he wasn't able to continue school right away."
Melanie explained that her grandfather would take classes here and there when he could, but he led a very busy life. Not only was he a husband, but a father of five and a community activist, as well as working a 9-5 at a local bank. He first went back to school with Melanie at a community college in 2017, where both scored their associate degrees.
Melanie was getting ready for her bachelor's degree when Rene decided to take classes to fulfill his lifelong dream of earning his. They both enrolled at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
"We would get lunch together and be in the library together and just work silently side-by-side," Melanie said. She'd help him with the online components of the work.
"There were also many times where I drove him to school during the seasons when he didn't have his car."
"I was also the president of a club at school for a while and there were times when he would come to my club meetings," Melanie shared.
"That was really special because I could always show him off and shout out that my grandpa was there."
Things were smooth sailing until just before the pandemic, when Rene suffered a minor stroke. He was forced to take a medical leave of absence from college. Unfortunately, online learning during the pandemic wasn't possible for him because of his health and the difficulty of navigating classes online.
As Melanie prepared for graduation in December 2021, she and her family asked university officials to grant her grandfather a degree of recognition. They agreed, though it came down to the wire.
"It was the week of graduation that we were told that he would be able to graduate," she said.
"We were really pushing for it because we were hoping, since his health is declining, that he could have that memory before he passes."
When Melanie shared the news with Rene, he was concerned first with her moment to shine. He didn't want to take away from his granddaughter's big accomplishment.
"I told him, 'This is our moment. I want to share it with you,'" she shared.
"I'm so proud of my grandpa and I'm so thankful I was able to have this moment, this memory, with him."
Melanie, who plans to work in the nonprofit sector, wants to carry her grandfather's lessons into every area of her life.
"I definitely have been inspired by my grandfather," she said.
"Through hearing loss, not having a car, taking public transportation, advocating for himself on campus, I really admired his ganas, which is like strength or perseverance, to keep going no matter what."
