Nearly 130 students were honored at a Corpus Christi Independent School District ceremony recognizing graduates who are the first in their families to finish high school.
Hundreds filled the auditorium, cheering as students walked across the stage, shook hands, received medals and celebrated a milestone many of their families never had the chance to experience.
One of those students was Collegiate High School senior Catherine Salinas, who fought back tears during the ceremony while thanking her grandparents, who legally adopted her after she says her mother abandoned her when she was young.
"When I was five years old, I woke up at my grandma's house and I learned my mom left," Salinas said.
Salinas dedicated her diploma to the grandparents who raised her.
"This diploma is yours, just as much as it is mine," Salinas said.
Surrounded by fellow first-in-family graduates after the ceremony, Salinas said she felt a sense of belonging she hadn't experienced before.
"I think we bond over struggle. It definitely takes a lot to be first in family," Salinas said.
She also said the moment felt larger than her own achievement.
"We're breaking the cycles for our families. And for the future generations," Salinas said.
When reflecting on her grandparents, Salinas became emotional.
"Um… and they just mean so much to me," Salinas said.
Her grandmother, Lupita Salinas, said education was something her own mother never had the opportunity to finish — because she had to pick cotton in the Valley.
"So I stressed to her how important education is," Lupita Salinas said.
Catherine received a $1,000 scholarship and is also earning her associate's degree from Del Mar College. She is graduating summa cum laude and plans to continue her education at Texas State University, where she will major in theatre.
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