Melissa Sanchez and Wesley Davis won't have to look very far to find a proud parent during Saturday's Westminster College commencement ceremony. Melissa's mother, Debra, and Wesley's father, Allen, will join their children on senior terrace in earning bachelor degrees.

Melissa will earn her degree in elementary education, while Debbie will graduate with a communication studies degree and a minor in writing. Father and son Davis will earn accounting degrees.

Melissa chose the more "traditional" route to a college degree, entering Westminster upon graduation from Wilmington Area High School to pursue a lifelong desire to be a teacher.

"I always loved to play school with my teddy bears," Melissa said. "In third grade, I knew I wanted to be an educator. The teacher, Mrs. Debbie McEwen, was only with us from the end of August until December, when she passed away, but she motivated and inspired me to do my best. She always believed in us and encouraged us to keep trying. I want to motivate, encourage, and teach young children, and make a difference in someone's life as she did in my life."

Debbie's journey to complete her college education took a little longer.

Following graduation from high school in 1978, she entered Davis & Elkins College. A year later, she married Cesareo. The couple moved to Venezuela, where they lived for over 10 years and where Melissa and her older brother, Alex, were born.

"I almost went to Slippery Rock University in the early 1990s," Debbie said. "But that was when our daughter, Karina, was born, so my education went on hold-again."

Debbie, who is the secretary in Westminster's Department of Political Science and Sociology, continued, "I started working at Westminster in 2001. About a year later, I casually asked Carol Yova [former director of Westminster's Lifelong Learning Program (LLP)] about LLP. She tossed me into a Saturday morning class that had already started. The next thing I knew, I was on my way."

Originally a history major at Davis & Elkins, Debbie began as an English major at Westminster "because it is what I know I was meant to study." Along the way, she kept taking communications classes because they were interesting and because they fit her schedule very well.

"Before I knew it, I was just a capstone away from a communication studies degree, so I became a double major," she explained. "I had accumulated enough credits to graduate, but if I kept the English major I would not be done for a few more semesters. I made the extremely hard decision to drop the English major, but kept the writing minor."

Melissa feels it has been an advantage to be at the same school as her mother. "If something was stressing me out, I could always go to her office, talk about it, and feel calmer."

She added, "I've been asked if I have to act differently because a lot of professors know my mom. I just act the way I always do."

As for post-graduation plans, Melissa is applying for teaching positions; working for Westminster's Education Department for the summer; and continuing to work at Shenango Presbyterian SeniorCare, where she has been employed for six years.

Debbie, who has been "trying to figure out how to get 36 hours in a day," said, "I no longer know the meaning of 'free time.' Maybe I'll catch up on housework. More likely, I'll spend more time writing, and reading things because I want to, not just because they are assigned. I'd like to be able to spend more time enjoying my grandchildren, but they live in Minneapolis. Alex and his wife Heather are the parents of 16-month-old Isabella, and are expecting their second child in a few weeks. Or...I may look into master's degree programs."

One project that will have mother and daughter working together is Melissa's wedding next year to her high school sweetheart.

Also in the graduating class are father and son accounting majors Allen and Wesley Davis of Greenville. Allen's wife and Wes's mother is Connie Davis, technical assistant in Westminster's McGill Library. The Davis family was working and preparing for the big event and were not available for an interview or photograph.

Contact Elizabeth Hines, director of Westminster's Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning Program, at (724) 946-7031 or e-mail ehines@westminster.edu for additional information.

Melissa and Debbie Sanchez