Fantastic Four: Single Mother Celebrates As Her Fourth Child Graduates From College

STOCKTON (CBS13) — A single mom from Stockton says people can learn important lessons from the children she calls "The Fantastic Four."

The family got its start in an area of Stockton known for drugs and violence. Lisa Fox-Evans' youngest son is now graduating from college just like his older brother and sisters.

Fox-Evans says their success did not come easy. She says it required, "A lot of tears, a lot of prayers and a lot of faith."

"I went to community college and it was my dream that when I became a mom that my kids would go to college," Fox-Evans said.

Her dream came true.

"They did the work but I prayed 'em through midterms, I prayed 'em through finals, I prayed 'em through not having food," Fox-Evans said.

The four brothers and sisters overcame low expectations from some other people.

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Ashle Archangel says people would say, "Oh, you come from the south side of Stockton? Most people don't go to college after that."

Fox-Evans set the expectations for her daughters.

"I had to be in at a certain time. I had to have my homework done at a certain time," said Alexandria Archangel.

Then, the two sisters helped set expectations for their younger brothers.

"They stressed college and therefore I really strived to be successful as well, just so my little brother could have a living example," said Kevin Archangel.

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Kevin is now an electrical engineer for Hewlett Packard. The pressure was on the youngest son after his three siblings graduated from college and began successful careers.

"I feel like Lebron chasing Michael Jordan right now. It's kind of hard trying to live up to my siblings and try to be just like them," Khalil Archangel said.

"We were like, oh man, we reached that bar, now let's set another bar and another bar and so we just continued to move forward," Ashle Archangel said.

The family encourages other people to reach for their dreams and work hard to make those dreams come true.

"Just do it. Do whatever it is that you aspire to do," Alexandria Archangel said.