Graduation season is underway and more than 1,100 students graduated from Texas Southmost College. 

Among them were a Los Fresnos mom and her two children. 

'Don't wait for the tide just to dip both your feet in,' that's the message written across the graduation cap of Alexa Sanchez Martinez, but it's a phrase that describes her family's journey to the graduation stage.

"It was definitely hard. It was a lot of endless nights, I worked so I had to juggle that too, but honestly, this is the number one thing I feel most accomplished with," Alexa said.

This isn't Alexa's high school graduation. It's her graduation from TSC, where she received an Associate of Arts in General Studies, all while still attending Los Fresnos High School.

She wasn't the only one in her family wearing a cap and gown. Her mother and brother, Hilda Martinez and Brandon Guzman, also graduated from TSC on the same day.

"There's no one else I rather graduate with and seeing them finally going through that stepping stone with me right behind them, just copying their every move, honestly it just makes me really happy and I'm super proud of them," Alexa said.

Alexa's mom — Hilda — earned her Associate degree in Social Work, all while working full-time as an attendance and records clerk at Los Fresnos CISD. 

"With them being one in high school and the other one in college, I just figured I had to be a role model for them, I really had to," Hilda said.

She says their accomplishment all started with a deal she made with her son to go back to school.

"You go back to school, I go back to school, and he looks at me like 'are you serious?' I'm like yes, you know? We'll study, the whole plan you know, it sounded really nice, sounded easy. No, let me tell you, it was really, really hard," Hilda said.

"It was worth it for sure, because if she didn't, I feel like I would be thinking to myself, 'why I didn't I do it?' So for her being here today and for her to tell me all the things that she told me, I think it is very rewarding," Brandon said.

Brandon earned a certificate of proficiency – level one in Automotive Technology. 

The family says balancing school, work and time together wasn't easy.

"Some days I didn't want to even look at the computer, but every single time I saw my mom and sister in the kitchen with their laptops doing their homework, it encouraged me just to do it in my room and doing all the things that needed to be done," Brandon said. 

For Hilda, the experience also came with something she didn't expect — hearing how proud her children are of her.

"Today, when I heard them both speak the way they did, I feel proud of myself," Hilda said.

A family that decided not to wait for the perfect moment, but instead took the leap together.

Watch the video above for the full story.