Jennifer Rocha’s father had a lesson he wanted his daughters to learn.
So when she was in her junior year of high school, he picked her up from cross-country practice one afternoon, brought her home to eat and change, and then drove her to the vegetable fields of Coachella, California — where they planted strawberries together through the night.
They’d get home at 2 or 3 in the morning. She’d sleep a few hours, then go to school.
His message was simple: if you don’t pursue an education, this is where you’ll spend your life.
She heard him.
Four years later, Jennifer graduated from UC San Diego with a degree in sociology. And instead of posing on campus, she went straight back to those fields — in her graduation gown and heels — and took her photos there, standing in the dirt rows beside her parents in their work clothes.
The photographer captured the moment her parents started smiling. Jennifer couldn’t see their faces while the shoot was happening. But when she saw the images later, she said: “It’s just a joy and pride that they feel that now they have three girls with degrees.”
Her parents have been field workers since they were six or seven years old, back in Michoacán, Mexico. They still work those fields today. Some days the temperature hits 117 degrees.
“I wouldn’t have a college degree if it wasn’t for them,” Jennifer said.
The photos went viral for a reason. They don’t just show a graduation. They show what a graduation actually costs.
