A granddaughter and her grandpa will graduate together from BYU-Idaho

REXBURG — A grandfather and his granddaughter are set to graduate from Brigham Young University-Idaho at the same time.

Jacey Reed, 23, and her grandpa Tony Reyna, 70, will walk at graduation together.

"I am so excited! It was kind of a thing that we both just realized, and we were like, 'Oh my gosh -- it’s happening! We are both graduating at the exact same time.' How cool is that?!" Reed told EastIdahoNews.com.

Reed is from Plano, Texas, and began studying at BYU-Idaho in 2019. She will graduate with her bachelor's degree in art with an emphasis in photography. After graduating, she hopes she can sell her nature pictures.

"My passion is flowers. It’s called macro photography. I just go around and find little details of flowers, leaves and raindrops. I just love the tiny details, and that’s what I love, so honestly, I would love to make calendars or something to sell my work and share the up-close details that people often miss," Reed said.

Macro photography taken by Jacey Reed. | Courtesy Jacey Reed Courtesy Jacey Reed

Reyna started school again decades later in 2019 -- the same year she did. He went through the BYU Pathway program, which got him in the door to BYU-Idaho. He has been taking classes online.

"I just wanted to finish something that I started just to be an example to my grandkids to tell them, 'Hey, you can do it. You can do anything you want,'" Reyna said.

He lives in Vancouver, Washington, with his wife, where they are serving a church mission from home for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Tony Reyna and his wife Margo Reyna. | Courtesy Tony Reyna

Reyna already had some education under his belt. He graduated high school when he was 17 and then attended Merced College in California in 1970 for one year. He then served a church mission when he was 19 years old in Colombia.

When he returned, he went to Brigham Young University from 1974 to 1975, when he was 22. He ended up getting married, getting a job, and life and kids happened.

The is a group photo with Tony's BYU roommates in 1974. He is in the back row in the middle. | Courtesy Tony Reyna Courtesy Tony Reyna

"I got the job that I wanted in journalism ... sports reporting. They said I didn’t have to have a degree because of the experience that I had had before. I said, 'Well, I can always go back and get my degree but I don’t need it now,' and then the years started to fly by," Reyna said.

He had a journalism career for 45 years.

Reyna realized in 2018, while serving a church mission with his wife in Central America, that he wanted to get his bachelor's degree.

"I decided, 'You know what? There’s no reason for me to not finish,'" Reyna said.

He told EastIdahoNews.com that his grandparents on both sides of his family never went to school. They were from Mexico and came to the United States seeking a better life. He added that his parents didn’t finish high school. His father only went to sixth grade and his mother went to 10th grade. They then put a priority on education.

"I kind of felt that I would be letting them down if I didn’t help fulfill their dreams as well because they were pretty excited when I was going to college when I got accepted to BYU," Reyna said. "Because of the priority they put on education, I thought, 'I owe them something for all the sacrifice they went through to make this possible for me.'"

Tony's acceptance letter into Brigham Young University in 1973. | Courtesy Tony Reyna

Reyna will be graduating with a bachelor's degree in professional studies.

"It’s just a sense of accomplishment. Anytime you accomplish anything hard, you have to feel good about it," he said.

Reed said she is proud of her grandpa.

"It’s impressive. He’s had an entire career. He’s been on a couple of different missions and then he was like, 'I might as well go get a degree!'" she said. "I am just excited. I think it’s so cool that we can do this together."

Reyna will be going to Rexburg next week to celebrate with his granddaughter and is looking forward to graduating together -- a memory that won’t be forgotten.

"It’s extra special to be doing it with Jacey. We have a special bond," he said.

Jacey Reed and Tony Reyna. | Courtesy Jacey Reed