{"id":305605,"date":"2026-05-23T05:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T05:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/305605\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T05:30:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T05:30:14","slug":"mom-twin-daughters-graduate-together-again-at-palo-alto-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/305605\/","title":{"rendered":"Mom, twin daughters graduate together again at Palo Alto College"},"content":{"rendered":"

After Brenda Arreola left college more than 27 years ago to focus on the birth of her twin daughters, she never imagined she would one day pick up where she left off and graduate not once, but twice, alongside them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho can say that they have [walked the stage] twice in their lifetime with their daughters?\u201d Brenda Arreola said. \u201cIt\u2019s a privilege and an honor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Arreola and her twins Danae and Daena Arreola-Sanchez crossed the stage together on Wednesday morning as recipients of a Bachelors of Applied Technology in Management<\/a> from Palo Alto College. <\/p>\n

They were among the more than 1,300\u00a0PAC students who graduated this spring with certificates and undergraduate degrees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Brenda Arreola interviewed after graduating with a bachelors from Palo Alto College. Credit: Vincent Reyna for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Brenda Arreola, now 50, recalls a time when she was bouncing back and forth between Palo Alto College and San Antonio College pursuing an associate degree in criminal justice. But after she got married, the high-risk pregnancy took priority and she dedicated her time to working, raising and eventually homeschooling her daughters after eighth grade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to a study<\/a> by the national nonprofit organization Young Invincibles, only one-third of student parents earn a college degree or certificate within six years of enrollment, and their chances of completing a degree or certificate program reduce by about 50 percent with each additional child.<\/p>\n

Continuing her education seemed like a long forgotten dream for Arreola, until her daughters were ready to enter college themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I took them to take an entry test to see if they were college ready, they came back to me and said, \u2018Mom, get in with us and finish your associate with us,\u2019\u201d she recalls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The three enrolled together and 10 years ago, they crossed the stage during Palo Alto College\u2019s graduation together for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The family then paused to focus on growing the twins\u2019 custom cakes and cookies business, Breezy Winds Cakery, which they had started at the age of 14.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started from home, pretty much as a hobby,\u201d Daena Arreola-Sanchez said. \u201cThen when we turned 16 we were like, \u2018We need a job, we need to help our parents.\u2019 So we started advertising on Facebook and it kind of snowballed from there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Through social media and word of mouth, the twins had slowly built a strong customer base for their bakery, and in 2020 they opened their brick-and-mortar location in Poteet. <\/p>\n

Their business became the main source of income for the sisters, while their mom worked full-time jobs and jumped in to help whenever they needed her.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Daena Arreola Sanchez and Danae Arreola Sanchez attend their graduation ceremony in the Alamodome on Wednesday. Credit: Vincent Reyna for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

They didn\u2019t imagine that soon after their grand opening, the coronavirus pandemic would force them to readjust. Social distancing in a small bakery became nearly impossible, so they switched to window pickup only, then orders began to dwindle as more people stayed home and some experimented with baking as a hobby.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The twins, now 27, managed to keep their business running and started to look for other income opportunities, but never let go of their desire to continue their education. Daena Arreola-Sanchez returned to Palo Alto College and landed a work-study position in the business department, a position that became the catalyst to their return to college.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt opened a lot of doors for me and opportunities,\u201d she said. \u201cI started networking with a lot of people and it helped me grow as a person.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Danae Arreola Sanchez takes a selfie with sister Daena Arreola Sanchez and mom Brenda Arreola while waiting to cross the stage at the graduation for Palo Alto College in the Alamodome. Credit: Vincent Reyna for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Through this role she became familiar with Palo Alto College\u2019s first bachelor degree offering, a Bachelor of Applied Technology in Management that launched in 2024. The hybrid or fully online option allowed them to choose a concentration in business and had the flexibility they needed to continue working.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018If I can do it, my sister and my mom can do it,\u2019\u201d Daena Arreola-Sanchez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For years the twins had learned to manage a business on their own, via trial and error, they said, and all of a sudden they had the opportunity to gain knowledge they craved all along and earn a bachelor\u2019s degree while at it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she brought that up I felt like it made sense to go into the program because we would learn more about how to run a business, how to operate it. In a way this was something we needed,\u201d said Danae Arreola-Sanchez.<\/p>\n

Their mom also jumped on board, and they became each other\u2019s most important support system both at home and at school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Brenda Arreola and her twin daughters, Daena Arreola Sanchez and Danae Arreola Sanchez, wait to cross the stage during the graduation ceremony for Palo Alto College in the Alamodome. Credit: Vincent Reyna for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

While Daena Arreola-Sanchez is considering continuing on to earn a master\u2019s degree, her sister thinks she\u2019ll focus on their small business for a while to implement all that they\u2019ve learned. Brenda Arreola says she thinks a teaching certification might be a good next step for her, but knows the sky is the limit for her daughters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was my motivation,\u201d Danae Arreola-Sanchez said. \u201cI would see my mom tired, stressed and still going at it and I would think \u2018If she can do it, then I really can do it, I have no excuses.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The San Antonio Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After Brenda Arreola left college more than 27 years ago to focus on the birth of her twin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[110725,110726,49858,289,16491,82,110727,84,83,325,92,93,94],"class_list":["post-305605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-alamo-colleges-graduation","tag-bachelors-degree-of-applied-technology","tag-graduation-ceremony","tag-higher-education","tag-palo-alto-college","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-graduation","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-small-business","tag-top-story","tag-typefeature","tag-wc-750-1000"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}