Commencement ceremonies are typically chock-full of people who have succeeded despite having the odds stacked against them. Theirs are stories of struggle, sacrifice and persistence. Pick a gown, any gown, and you might hear a newly minted college graduate tell of parents who gave up everything to give their child a chance, a mentor who modeled grit in the face of dire circumstances, a spouse who never stopped believing.
Some, like Fowler native Shirley Jones, share stories with all of that and more.
“I have had many ups and downs in my life,” Jones said. “But little by little I [got] my life back together with the help of my family and friends.”
Shirley Jones fist-bumps Fresno State President Saul Jimenez-Sandoval, whose speech at Fowler High School’s graduation inspired her to keep going in pursuit of her degree. Photos by Cary Edmondson
A graduate from Fowler High School in 1987, Jones (Shirley Diaz back then) was a classmate of Alfonso Jiménez, the brother of Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval. After high school, Jones said, she went to Reedley College but dropped out to get married.
“I never even thought about going back,” she said.
Once her 30-year marriage ended, Jones wanted to “get back in the swing of things,” so she enrolled in classes at Fresno City College while working in senior care at a convalescent home.
“I always intended on working in hospice,” she said. Her plan was to finish her associate’s degree and carve out a career in senior living.
But during Jones’s time at Fresno City College, a motorcycle on which she was a passenger was struck by a car on Academy Avenue. She broke her femur, endured 11 surgeries and spent time in a wheelchair.
Still, for Jones, things were looking up. To be near her fiance, she moved to Tulare where she continued rehabilitating her leg. She also enrolled in classes at College of the Sequoias. Her niece, Samantha Diaz, was a student in Fresno State’s Master of Social Work program at the time. Diaz, Jones said, was a great motivation for her.
“She encouraged me to keep going to school,” Jones said.
But then Jones was dealt another blow while on “a simple walk” in the Sierra National Forest. “I broke my leg again,” she said. “My kneecap gave out and my leg broke from the bottom down.”
Once again, she took time away from school. She doubted whether a college degree was in her future. “My age was a big thing,” she said. “I started going back to school at 48. I was going to classes with all these young kids.”
But, Jones said, her support system – her family and friends and her new husband – continued to uplift her. She finished classes, earned her associate’s degree in sociology and was accepted to Fresno State as a transfer student. She struggled, however, with the decision to keep going into what she called “this next chapter of life.”
But on a Thursday night in the spring of 2021, still unsure of what to do, Jones was in the audience at Fowler High School’s graduation ceremony. The keynote speaker that night was Fowler High alumnus Jiménez-Sandoval, the Fresno State president.
“I remember when his family came from Mexico and they didn’t speak English,” she said. “I thought, ‘look at all he’s accomplished!’”
Jiménez-Sandoval’s words filled Jones with purpose, and she was so inspired, she sent the president an email the following Saturday.
“After hearing your speech, I feel I not only want to pursue this degree but with the help of my family and friends I know I can achieve this goal,” she wrote. “Thank you for those words of encouragement. I look forward to seeing you on campus.”
Despite numerous setbacks, Shirley Jones persevered and earned her degree in sociology in May. Photos by Cary Edmondson
Jiménez-Sandoval responded within an hour, Jones said, and soon she was getting calls from Fresno State staff in the Office of Financial Aid and the Educational Opportunity Program.
That university support, she said, was truly motivational. “I can do this,” she said. “I can do this.”
Today, armed with the bachelor’s degree in sociology she earned at Fresno State in May, Jones is more confident than ever. She is leaving college with “very good friends,” people who have shared with her opportunities to use her new degree, jobs where she can “go out and talk to the community,” jobs where she can support others and give back.
“I’m amazed I actually did it,” she said. “Used to be when things got hard, I changed direction. Now, I’m thinking about things I’ve never even thought about before.”
