Two parents and three children will hold a total of six degrees from Texas Tech after mother and son walk the stage during separate commencements this weekend.

It started, innocently enough, with a challenge. 

The two oldest Torres children were talking about how demanding their lives were. Between coursework, commuting to campus, being heavily involved in student organizations and working part-time jobs as full-time students, the pressure was real.

They felt it every day while navigating uncharted territory as first-generation college students.

How hard could it be; just work a little harder, pushed back their parents, Rose and Jose. 

Alexsis and Michael wasted no time turning the conversation around, telling them in so many words that if it’s so easy to get a college degree, they should just go ahead and get their own. Their parents had delayed pursuing college degrees primarily because they had started their family and held down jobs at an early age. 

There just wasn’t room then.

A few years, lots of classes, tons of hard work and one cancer battle later, the Torreses have five Texas Tech University System graduates in the family. 

Rose, the cancer survivor and family matriarch, will earn her second degree, an online master’s in personal financial planning, during Texas Tech University’s spring commencement exercises this week, while Sunny, the youngest of the three siblings, also will complete his undergraduate work and earn his bachelor’s in Criminology through the Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work in the College of Arts & Sciences.

It is an inspirational family tradition. Jose, the father, and Rose each earned online undergraduate degrees in general studies with concentrations in psychology, sociology and human development & family studies. He finished in December 2022.

Michael, the older son, received a master’s in finance from the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business. Alexsis, the first in the family to obtain a college degree, completed her master’s in healthcare administration from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

Originally, Jose graduated in 1994 and briefly attended South Plains College, and during that time he and Rose learned they were expecting their first child.

“I stepped away from school to support my growing family and began building a career of my own,” Jose said. “In 2012, I embarked on becoming my own boss and founded a company I could call my own.

“I believe education is very important in our family, and Texas Tech University has not only been a true blessing, but also an extension of it. Our family has been and will always be our greatest support system.”

Years later, inspired by Rose, Jose decided to return to South Plains College and earn his associate degree. He walked the stage at SPC mere hours before Rose and Michael received their bachelor’s and master’s degrees, respectively, from Texas Tech. 

“We agreed that we wanted the next generation to do better than we did,” Jose said. “We figured going back was a good launching point for us, and we said, ‘It’s never too late.’ And we found out our old brains still worked.”

Their Educational Journeys Begin

Jose and Rose, who raised their family in New Home, Texas, each began their postsecondary educational journeys by earning associate degrees from South Plains College. They transferred to Texas Tech, but in July 2020, Rose was diagnosed with breast cancer.

However, she said Texas Tech faculty and staff were incredible in how they worked to help her achieve her dreams – even as she underwent a course of treatment that included a double mastectomy and other surgeries that challenged her stamina but failed to diminish her determination.

“My professors were amazing,” she said. “My advisor was very understanding and told me I might want to take time off, but I decided to go ahead because the professors had said I had until the end of the semester to get everything turned in and they would help me along the way, whatever I needed. I thought that was pretty cool.”

The long hours of classwork and overcoming her health challenge have paid off as Rose envisions the next chapter. She is looking for opportunities to pay her blessings forward and have a positive impact on others.

“My husband and I own an insurance agency, and we not only sell home, auto and life but also business insurance,” she said. “My first thoughts now are to help nonprofit organizations, especially with needs they might have in the medical world. There are many individuals who lack in health literacy and face language barriers.

“I also think I can help young people. So many of them come out of high school and are unsure what to do next and think they have to find a job and go to work right away. They need some assistance realizing it doesn’t have to be that way, and there are options available that make college possible.”

Her youngest child, Sunny, has a similar altruistic outlook about his future, although he plans to forge his in a different way and different place – joining the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) in hopes of becoming a state trooper. 

Officially, that professional adventure begins in September with projected graduation in March 2027. For now, he is working his way through the paperwork and polygraphs that come with the territory of embarking on a career in criminal justice.

“Since I was a kid, I always wanted to do something like being a first responder,” said Sunny, who works on campus in Transportation & Parking Services. “At one point, I wanted to join the military, and then as I got older, I moved toward nursing and the paramedic route.”

However, as Sunny arrived at Texas Tech and, in his own words, “slowed down” his thinking, he saw possibilities in the Department of Psychological Sciences as well as criminology. With regular visits to his siblings, who made their home in Austin, he recalled a time when he visited the Texas Capitol as well as the Texas Peace Officers Memorial, and a new possibility took up residence in his imagination.

“I saw DPS troopers and Texas Rangers there, and I started to realize that being a law enforcement agent was something a lot like being in the military,” he said. “I didn’t have anything against going into military service, but I knew for my mom that was a big deal because either way, you are pursuing a career where your life is at risk every day.”

No choices had to be made that day, so Sunny focused his energy on getting his degree, and the further he progressed in his criminology studies, the closer he seemed to move toward becoming a law enforcement agent. 

It was during his time at Texas Tech, and with the support of his family, friends and members of the university community, that he decided to apply to the Department of Public Safety – State Troopers Division for Class-C of 2026. 

Finding Answers in all the Right Places

It also didn’t hurt that the father of one of Sunny’s best friends is a member of the Texas Rangers Division and is part of the protection detail for Texas Tech head football coach Joey McGuire on Red Raider game days at Jones AT&T Stadium.

“He (the Texas Ranger) was a real blessing to me as I started looking into law enforcement more seriously,” Sunny recalled. “It started out as just talking to him, asking questions and getting information. It became something that interested me … and then something that challenged me.”

Sunny finds what lies ahead exciting. He believes the education he has received at Texas Tech, as well as being a part of unique student experiences, like camping out for the Red Raider football game against BYU last November, have prepared him well for whatever he might confront in his future career path. 

By the same token, the familiarity of campus and comfort of nearby family will change to a certain degree.

That brings with it a certain dose of reality.

“It is definitely bittersweet,” he says. “Growing up here around Lubbock, you get used to the area. You get used to having family around. You come to Texas Tech, and you make these friends who turn into family. I know the future isn’t going to keep me in Lubbock, but I am excited for it.”

Rose’s experience has been unique in several ways, most notably as an online student. She just completed a grant-writing class that was not only the last one she needed to fulfill her degree requirements, but also the first one she attended on an in-person basis.

“This was my first semester of coming to campus,” she said. “And I was like, ‘Wow, this is totally different.’ I was almost overwhelmed because I was the oldest person here, even older than the professor, and I just felt kind of outdated. I was taking notes on paper, and they’re all typing away on their laptops. It was a different experience, but it’s all been cool.”

Something else that has been especially rewarding has been watching their children blossom, in part, because of Texas Tech’s influence. After the first two earned their degrees, Rose said Sunny really had no choice but to become a Red Raider as well.

While mother and son will not walk the stage during the same commencement ceremony, they will receive their degrees during the same weekend.

And that is a memory both will possess for the rest of their lives.

“It’s something where I get to share a moment with him,” Rose said. “I hadn’t really even thought about it that much until someone told me we would graduate together, and I was like, ‘Holy moly, I get to graduate with him.’ It’s all happening the same weekend. More than anything, it is affirmation that we can do this, and nothing can stand in your way.”

Like a typical mom, Rose would rather the commencement spotlight fall on her son, but Sunny recognizes it’s a special moment for her – and the entire Torres family.

“She wants all of the attention on me, but our family has told her this is special for her too,” he said. “We both will be in regalia. We both will turn our tassels together. I wish we were at the same ceremony because I’ve been joking with her that if she’s on the front row, she is guaranteed being able to get a great picture.”

Accomplishment Runs in the Family

Sunny’s degree completion is the latest entry in the architecture of accomplishment for the Torres family. Michael and Alexsis both finished their undergraduate work at Lubbock Christian University.

The master’s in finance offered through Rawls College caught Michael’s attention, and it would be a challenging path after completing two successful internships in municipal and federal government.

Of course, Michael had no idea just how challenging.

But something funny happened amid all the unknown. Texas Tech helped Michael discover that he had a great aptitude for analytical reasoning, and the program brought out the best in him.

“I found the professors and faculty and the people I went through the program with all very helpful,” he said. “My wife was especially helpful in pushing through and giving my best effort daily.

“Being a Red Raider is one of the most fulfilling things for me, especially as a local and growing up a Red Raider fan and living 30 minutes south of campus. It makes having a degree from Texas Tech very special to me. Texas Tech is a part of my story, and I get to share that with others and carry my proud West Texas roots with me into my personal and professional life.”

Ditto for Alexsis who began her professional career working in ophthalmology at the TTUHSC. She noticed a lot of patients who came through had a hard time understanding how their insurance and other benefits worked.

Alexsis was moved, thinking how she would feel if it were her parents or grandparents in this situation. She saw the online master’s in health care administration program and quickly applied, starting in the summer of 2020.

“I loved the program so much,” she said. “It was like everything I learned, I retained and was able to put it into practice. It made me want to strive to do better and to excel as a professional, and the amazing thing was how all of my professors in each class were kind and took time to get to know me.”

Since graduating, she has relocated to Austin, where she now has an office, working as the senior program coordinator for clinical placements for the University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing and where her diploma now proudly hangs.

“I get a lot of flak for it,” she said with a smile, “but we do have other Texas Tech people here, and sometimes they stop by my office and say, ‘A fellow Texas Tech alum. I feel better now.’”

Never, Ever Giving Up

Rose knows a little something about working hard. She and Jose have raised a family and then balanced earning college degrees around the demands of unexpected health interruptions and operating a business.

They’ve not only cheered and encouraged their three children through their unique educational journeys, but they also have a keen understanding of what those paths are like.

“The advice I would give to people is to just keep going forward,” Rose said. “Obstacles are going to be there, but the outcome is worth it. Being able to do this with my kids has been great and being able to share the value of education, which I think is a must in this world right now.”

And she has zero regrets about pursuing her dreams at Texas Tech.

Well, upon further review, maybe one.

“Could I have timed it a little better to criticize their homework and said it couldn’t be that hard?” she asked. “Maybe. But there’s no excuse not to be successful, and with the support here at Texas Tech, someone is going to help you make your way. There are five of us who have been through here, each with unique situations, and that’s what we all have seen.”

In some ways, the Torres family and the Texas Tech family really have become one.

“For a while, it seemed like we had a graduation every session,” Sunny said. “It’s so cool, and sometimes we catch our dad just kind of staring at his Texas Tech ring. It’s like in the back of his mind, he knows what an accomplishment this is. There was never any pressure for anyone to get a college degree, but now that we all have them, it’s beautiful to see.”