Starting out in life, close friends Olga Gonzalez and Santa Acosta learned education can take you far, no matter where you came from.

Their parents taught them that getting an education provides a pathway to success that many such as themselves did not have.

“We were brought up real poor. My mother didn’t have any formal education. She did different things to make a living for my siblings and myself,” Acosta said. “But she said if you got an education, you were ahead. She embedded it in us that education is very important.”

Gonzalez’s father, Juan Terrazas, in large part educated himself after middle school and he passed down the importance of that to his daughter at a young age.

“My parents were very humble. Humble family, very poor. Like Santa said, my mother probably just went to sixth grade and my dad I really don’t know if he went to high school,” Gonzalez said. “He educated himself. He read every Saturday magazine that came out. He was devoted to that. Anything he could get his hands on he would read. He was devoted to that. Education in my family with parents was No. 1.”

Entering high school, Gonzalez had a high drive to succeed and graduated in the top 10 in her class.

The Fort Stockton native explained that it started on her first day in high school when she made the decision to sit at the front of the classroom and ensued by striving to get a 100% in her classes so her classmates would need to dedicate themselves academically as well.

“A lot of my classes there was another girl and I that cared for our grades. What the teacher would do is curve the grades so the rest would pass,” Gonzalez stated. “She and I became good friends and said why do we study so hard to make good grades and the rest get the curve. So, we studied harder and got 100 so there was no curve.”

The educational foundation for both Gonzalez and Acosta was just the start of their success and impact in Fort Stockton.

The pair learned first-hand that giving back to your community was just as important as attaining an education.

Gonzales’s father gave driver education courses for the Hispanic community and all who desired to learned to drive. People flocked to Fort Stockton from all over Texas to learn how to drive.

“My dad at that point had a driver’s education so the people could get their license. So, him and my mother would hold classes every week at our home. Go over the booklet and make them take the test,” Gonzalez said. “This is where I learned to give and to teach. Every week a lot of people from the Lubbock area would come. They would hear about my dad and would drive in every week.”

Gonzales also saw the significant impact that her cousin and boss, Pete Terrazas made. Olga worked 43 years for Pete before starting her Cash Express financial services business in Fort Stockton in 1995.

“Pete, he was a very giving person. He always took interest of anyone that would walk into the store that had problems. He would take time to listen and to help. I came in and worked there 43 years. I learned from him and he gave me the opportunity to learn from him. But also gave me the opportunity to do things for the people,” she said.

Alongside their jobs, Gonzalez and Acosta began to work together to help the community of Fort Stockton in a variety of ways.

The close friends helped Hispanics attain their citizenship while being a part of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

In 2000, Gonzalez and Acosta filed their legal paperwork with the state to form the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Fort Stockton.

“Santa and I became friends and started helping one another, just everyone in the community really. When we first started, we had about 100 members, a lot of businesses joined, attorneys and trainees.

“Anything and everything we heard we tried to assist. Like sometimes with immigration. They were given a chance to fill out their paperwork and they were already here in the United States for citizenship,” Gonzalez said. “They came from Odessa, Midland, Monahans, everywhere. We helped them fill out their paperwork. We had offices setup all over.”

Just a few years after the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was formed Acosta and Gonzalez began a scholarship movement that has grown a substantially over the past 15 years.

Through donations of businesses, individual donors, and foundations, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce partnered with the Fort Stockton Independent School District to help students in need and any that apply through the application process that is available to all students pursuing a higher education.

“Focus has been on helping youth because I didn’t have anybody to help me besides my mom. She encouraged me,” Acosta said.

“Every student will receive you just have to apply. Every year you keep up with that application and your GPA is whatever it is, that’s how much money you receive,” Gonzalez added. “Two of the kids received $50,000 each this year. Those are just great. On our part we’ve always done really well. I’m very proud to say that.”

Gonzalez and Acosta both emphasized that none of there accomplishments would have been possible without the people who have helped them get to where they are at today, and specifically the donors that enable students to achieve a higher education.

“We’ve been so blessed in every respect,” Gonzalez said.