While it’s not unusual for two people to share the same foundation scholarship at Skagit Valley College, it’s unlikely that the pair would be mother and daughter.

“They told us that had never happened before,” Crystal Nelson said.

College staff have predicted a blue-chip future for Oak Harbor residents Andrea Nelson and daughter Crystal, who each received a $1,000 scholarship from the foundation last May. College spokesperson Arden Ainley said the Nelsons’ story is particularly inspiring.

Andrea is originally from Taiwan and said that only two generations ago, her grandmother didn’t have access to an education.

“I feel like I’m doing this for my grandmother. She’s kind of in me,” Andrea said.

Born of Chinese descent, her grandmother was adopted into a Taiwanese family to become the son’s future wife. While the son attended school, she was encouraged to tend to the cattle. Although schooling was required in Taiwan, her adopted parents hid her from authorities, Andrea said.

As she was growing up, Andrea’s grandmother always stressed the importance of education. Today, Andrea is a single mom who works at night and attends classes in the daytime while maintaining a 4.0 grade point average.

She began courses at Skagit Valley College 10 years ago, starting with improving her English skills. In June she will earn her Licensed Practical Nursing degree. She wants to become a nurse at Careage of Whidbey, where she currently works.

Andrea is proud to show her own daughters what an education can do.

“I used to have low self-esteem having English as a second language,” she said. “But I have a passion inside me that’s been burning all these years. People say that they can tell I enjoy my job. They say, ‘You’re always smiling.’”

Crystal is studying to become a linguist and speaks Japanese, Chinese and Russian. She hopes to become a novelist one day and translate her own books.