Davay and Da’Veigh Washington, 22-year-old twins from Chester, earned their degrees on Sunday with the help of their dedicated dad and a 2003 Chevy Impala.

Shellman Washington, their father, has driven his girls to and from campus for the last four years.

A self-employed auto mechanic, he estimates that he has clocked thousands of miles shuttling his daughters to classes in a commute that takes “about 10 to 15 minutes each way.” He keeps his white Impala in pristine condition, a lesson he learned from his father, who ran an auto body shop in Chester for decades.

“Because he’s self-employed, he makes his own schedule and can work around ours,” Davay explains. “He drops us off and picks us up. Sometimes we have to wait because he has a job, but during that time, we do our schoolwork.”

The twins are graduates of Chester Charter Scholars Academy (CCSA) and earned bachelor’s degrees in business administration. They are the first in their family to earn college degrees.

When they were seniors in high school and dealing with COVID restrictions, Neumann arranged a virtual presentation for students at CCSA. Da’Veigh attended and convinced her sister to take the next step.

“Neumann is close, and we can go together,” she said. With scholarships and their father’s promise to provide transportation, they enrolled. Both sisters are glad they did.

According to Davay, “The professors have real-world experience and are very accommodating. The classes are small, and everyone is connected.”

Now that they have degrees, Davay is keeping her options open, applying for various positions “to get my foot in the door and get some experience.”

Da’Veigh wants to go into the supply chain industry to secure “an interesting and recession-proof job.”

When they land jobs, dad will be off the hook. The twins will take the bus to work.

“We only have one car and have to do what we can with that,” Davay realizes. “Hopefully, we will save some money and get our own.”