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Forty-five-year-old Commondre Cole, his son, 25-year-old Ja’Coby Cole, and his daughter, 27-year-old Iesha Gully of the Gully-Cole family, graduated from Mississippi State University in Meridian with their master’s degrees in education. The commencement took place on May 12.
And it was all thanks to the love and support of the woman of the household, who inspired and pushed them to achieve such greatness.
“I used to work manufacturing jobs and all of that, and she [says] you can always be off in the summertime if you were an educator,” Commondre said about his wife, Jessica Gully-Cole, an educator who coaxed her husband into the education field. Gully-Cole also studied and graduated from Mississippi State University.
Commondre has been teaching middle school P.E. for 11 years and can now add a master’s degree in education to his credentials.
But it wasn’t just Commondre that Jessica inspired to return to school to pursue education; she convinced her children.
Ja’Coby spoke with the Atlanta Black Star about how he wanted to become a physical education teacher for elementary students in Meridian, Mississippi. Still, his mother offered some sage advice before making his final decision.
“I just wanted to coach, teach kids how to play baseball and things like that,” he said. “Mom said you should just go into teaching because, in order to be a coach, you need to be a teacher also, so she was like, ‘You might as well go ahead and get your education.'”
On the other hand, it took years for Gully-Cole to convince her daughter, Iesha Gully, to pursue education. Iesha’s complex path consisted of becoming a waitress and truck driver while studying criminal justice. Years later, the 27-year-old woman listened to her mother and became an educator, teaching second-grade special needs children in Meridian.
“The pay from being a truck driver to being a school teacher was like, ‘I’m going to have to like this to keep going,’ and then when I jumped into it, I realized I loved doing it,” Gully said.
Forging through school together, the three found themselves taking some of the same courses together and helping each other through them.
“Some classes we were taking together and stuff like that, and we can help each other keep up, and we can tell each other such and such is due tomorrow at 11,” Commondre said.
“I know me, and my dad were in a lot of groups together,” Jacoby said. “We did a lot of group work on Zoom.”
Despite working together, a competition brewed between the graduates.
“It was almost like a competition, trying to have the highest GPA, have the highest grade on tests and assignments, and the teachers would always point that out,” Gully explained.
Iesha could’ve graduated before her dad and brother but decided to graduate with them after her mother asked if she wanted to graduate in Spring 2021 or wait until her brother and dad graduated.
The Gully-Cole family’s success story is another than can be added to the Black Excellence folder of stories that thrive on inspiring other Black children, graduates, and families.
“No matter your age, just keep striving and keep going. Whatever you set your heart to, just do it,” Commondre advised.