Catching any one of the Herrera siblings alone might prove difficult.
The six siblings, Jorge Andres, Luis Albino, Miguel Antonio, Juan Pablo, Jose Marcelino and Rebeca Isabel, are almost inseparable ““ and are all part of the Bruin family.
From the simple things like playing basketball to starting their own musical group, which they hope to make a career of, the six would do everything together. When it came time to apply for college, it was a nervous moment for Jorge Andres, the eldest of the Herrera family.
But he was overcome with a sense of relief when he received a large, white envelope in the mail. Jorge Andres had been accepted to his dream school: UCLA.
His first year, he said, proved slightly difficult. Being away from his family was not something he was used to. But he did not have to wait long for company to arrive.
The following year, Luis Albino joined him as part of the Bruin family, and shortly thereafter, so did Miguel Antonio, Juan Pablo, Jose Marcelino and finally, this fall, Rebecca Isabel will become the sixth of the Herrera siblings to attend UCLA as an undergraduate.
The six siblings, who call themselves the “Hermanos Herrera,” or the Herrera Brothers, all said that the Bruin tradition has long been a part of their family. Having always been big UCLA sports fans, they would often don school gear and cheer the teams from their hometown in Ventura County.
“When (Jorge Andres) got in, we were really excited because we would always walk around with UCLA shirts and now we could claim UCLA. Like, “˜My brother goes there,'” said Luis Albino Herrera, who completed his master’s in Latin American studies at UCLA.
The brothers said that the university had been a dream school for all because it was not too far from home.
“I think we would get really homesick if we went away from each other for too long. We’re all close in age so we all hung out with each other,” Luis Albino Herrera said. “I think it would have been kind of weird for one of us to go to Berkeley and never see our family except on breaks.”
They all said that they share many passions and hobbies. All six were valedictorians in their respective high school classes and all played various sports.
However, those similarities go a little further. The six also play together in their own musical group, “Hermanos Herrera,” and said they have played a variety of shows ranging from small private parties, weddings and nightclubs, and have opened for the popular Mexican norteno band, Los Tigres del Norte, which plays a regional and popular type of music from the north of Mexico.
The regional style of music featuring accordions, guitar and saxophone, was nothing new to the family. Their father, also named Jorge Andres Herrera, used to play in a band with his brothers and before his first son was born, he already had a special harp made for him.
“We were born into music,” Jorge Andres Herrera said.
The band, which originally began as a sort of hobby, has grown and allowed the Hermanos Herrera to record six CDs, the next of which will be due out soon. That balancing act between life as a student and a performer is something that continues to attract Jorge Andres Herrera. Herrera, who is a doctoral candidate in ethnomusicology at UCLA, said he enjoys being able to perform during the weekends and then blend into the student population on campus.
For Rebeca Isabel Herrera, the youngest and only girl, playing together in the band adds a special element to the performance.
“I like playing with them because every time we’re on stage you can feel the energy. We’re all really united. Just that feeling of being with them all the time, that’s pretty special,” she said.
The siblings have also performed during lectures for students, Luis Albino Herrera said, and have been able to develop connections with other organizations on campus such as Grupo Folklorico de UCLA and various departments such as the Latin American Studies department and ethnomusicology department.
He said that the professors were always very welcoming and often made him feel as if they were peers, not just students.
“We came in with a wealth of knowledge that the professors didn’t even have. So instead of them trying to lecture on huasteco (a specific regional style of music native to the state of Veracruz, Mexico) … they would have us do it. And for us it wasn’t anything we read in a book or that we studied. It was just something we experienced,” he said.
Still, the siblings maintain a modest attitude toward their accomplishments, something that Jose Marcelino Herrera said is a result of their upbringing.
“It’s just always important to stay humble and know where your roots are at,” he said.
Luis Albino Herrera agreed, adding that while he appreciates the education he has received, to him success means something more.
He said that while UCLA had always been his dream school, he knew if he had not been accepted, he would have attended a community college and hopefully transferred.
“My mom always told us it doesn’t matter where you start, it’s where you finish,” he said. “Like, a UCLA diploma doesn’t mean anything more to me than a diploma from San Diego State (University). What matters is what you do with it, what you do with that piece of paper.”
For the six Herrera siblings, whether they are playing basketball or playing together in the group, having similar interests still seems a bit of an oddity for them.
“I think that is kinda weird that it turned out that way, but for some reason I think that us being so close in age … had something to do with it,” Luis Albino Herrera said. “(It) helped us have the same interests,” he said.