The Matchin family was on campus in May to celebrate another graduation. Jaime received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at the spring ceremony. From left, Renee, Jim, Trisha, Jaime and Patty paused for a moment by the duck pond outside the Educational Services Building on campus. Shannon, who was expecting her second child, could not attend.

Renee was the first to attend NMSU from 1988 to 1992, when she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education.

“I am very proud of my family’s tradition at NMSU,” Renee says. “I had a great experience at NMSU. My sisters saw that I enjoyed being in Las Cruces and loved everything about NMSU so they wanted to be there, too.”

Before Renee graduated, she was joined on campus by her sister Shannon, who attended NMSU from 1991 to 1996 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in hospitality and tourism.

“You don’t hear very often of all the children from the same family going to the same college,” Shannon says.

Shannon also enjoyed the unique opportunity to go to college with her mother as a study partner when Patty Matchin Rodgers decided to join her daughter on the NMSU campus in 1993.

“Mom got her master’s degree in communications disorders in 1999. We are all proud of her,” Shannon says.

Patty also had received a bachelor’s degree in education with an emphasis in communication disorders in 1997.

“When mom graduated with her master’s degree, I was the only one at NMSU for a while and then Jaime came along,” says Trisha, who attended NMSU from 1997 to 2002 and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

Trisha says it was great to go to NMSU with her sister Jaime.

“For several years we were inseparable, we lived together and partied together. We really bonded during college,” Trisha says of her and Jaime, who attended NMSU from 1999 to 2004. Jaime graduated this spring with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

“Because of my sisters, NMSU was already home to me,” Jaime says. “I was already familiar with the campus and everything that came with it.”

Jaime’s graduation isn’t the end of the story, though. Trisha is still attending NMSU pursuing a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction.

“I truly love this school, it has given me so much,” Trisha says.

“Renee, Shannon, Trisha and Jaime are to be commended for their diligence and perseverance in obtaining these degrees,” says Patty. “They are intelligent and strong young women, and their success proves this.”

James Matchin agrees and says he couldn’t be prouder of his daughters.

“They are wonderful,” he says. “It is amazing that someone in our family has been enrolled since 1988 and it looks like the tradition will continue for a least another year.”