Rebekah Gonzalez was 18 the first time she stepped onto a college campus. For a girl who had grown up singing in her living room, music was the only career she had ever considered.
Thirty years, two marriages, and one hard-won sobriety later, she walked across San Jacinto College’s (Texas) graduation stage earning an associate degree in music.
Gonzalez first carried her love of music to Texas State University, where she enrolled as a music education major in 1996.
Two years later, she became pregnant with her first son and left school. What followed was nearly two decades of survival: abusive relationships, addiction, and the constant work of keeping herself and her children safe.
In 2002, while pregnant with her third child, Gonzalez was cast in a production of “Once on This Island.” The stage gave her something the rest of her life at the time could not: a place where she belonged.
When Gonzalez got sober and left her second marriage, she knew she needed something to keep her pointed forward.
She enrolled at San Jac five years ago, determined to finish what she started. But the road back was not smooth. When she learned that some of her Texas State credits would not transfer, she spent two days crying.
“I thought, ‘I’m almost 50. What am I doing?’” she said.
Still, she pushed forward, retaking courses — music theory, sight-singing, and choir — across four semesters.
“I realized that this is the do-over time of my life,” she said.
She also wanted to set an example for her children.
“I just want my kids to see me happy and know that they can be like that for their families,” she said.
In 2024 and 2025, Gonzalez qualified for the Texas Music Educators Association honor choir. In high school, she had always fallen short, but at San Jac, she finally made it.
She has been accepted to the University of Houston to complete her bachelor’s degree in music education. Her goal is to become a choir director.