By Mark Muckenfuss

It can be hard enough putting a child through college. Try doing it two at a time, twice.

That’s what the Grewal family of Salinas faced. In 2011, twin daughters, Charn and Chand, enrolled in CSU Monterey Bay. Both graduated with honors in 2015, went on to medical school and are now physicians. In 2021, the family sent its twin boys, Gurman and Gurtaj, to follow in their sisters’ footsteps and become Otters. Both are now juniors majoring in business.

All four siblings have benefited from the Pay it Forward scholarship, receiving financial support for their studies and taking part in a mentor/mentee program in cooperation with First Tee Monterey County, an after-school, life-skills program built around the sport of golf for ages 13-16. Pay it Forward is aimed at first-generation college students.  

Reeta and Racchpal Grewal came to the United States from India in 1989. Followers of the Sikh faith, they established themselves in Salinas and own Quik Save, a convenience store. Their two sets of twin children have duplicated one another’s successes. 

“My siblings and I support each other through love and empathy for one another,” said Charn. “We are children of immigrants from Punjab, India who came here with nothing but who gave us everything.” 

“CSUMB was great for my sisters,” said Gurman. “They had a great experience and encouraged us to go as well.” 

The brothers are on track to graduate with honors as their sisters did.

Since the Pay It Forward Scholarship and Mentoring Program’s inception in 2008, $3.5 million has been raised for scholarships and more than 170 community leaders have served as mentors. To date, the Pay It Forward Program has assisted 236 CSUMB students with scholarships of up to $5,000 per year for four years.

Jessica Carter directs the program for CSUMB. She said it has assisted siblings of past recipients and even twins, but the Grewals are unique. Their success, however, is not. Melanie Mena, the recently announced CSU Trustees’ Award winner for this year is a recipient of Pay it Forward. 

“First-generation students have a lot of drive and talent, but they have a lot of obstacles too,” Carter said. “Most are low-income and they’re from families that just don’t know all of the opportunities that are available to them. Our program opens doors for these students and their families that they didn’t even know existed.”

Both Gurman and Gurtaj said they enjoy working with the middle and high school mentees they have been connected with through the program. At the First Tee facility near their home, they can golf, play ping pong or shoot hoops with their charges while helping them work through some of the challenges in their young lives. 

“We talk about all kinds of things,” Gurtaj said.

On the flip side, they have the advantage of being mentored by successful community leaders and business professionals. They both say their mentors have helped them in dealing with the stresses of navigating work and school.

“I’m overstressed, so I meet with my mentor a lot,” said Gurman. “He just calms me down a bit. Just talking with him de-stresses me.”

That was especially important last spring. Despite going to school full-time with scholarship support, the brothers still help their father run the family store. 

“My parents went to India in February and left us to work the store,” Gurman said. “We’d wake up at 5, go to the store, do the paperwork and do the orders, go off to school and check in at night, trying to help the employees. That was the hardest part of last semester.”

Neither the brothers nor their sisters are identical twins. But Gurman and Gurtaj are seemingly tied at the hip. 

“Wherever he goes, I go,” Gurman said. “Where I go, he goes.”

Just as their sisters did, the brothers took the same classes in high school and at CSUMB. They hang out with the same set of friends. They help work the family’s convenience store as a team and even study together. 

“We assist each other,” Gurman said. “Two minds are better than one. If we get frustrated, we can yell at each other. It happens, but not often.”

“I might say otherwise,” Gurtaj said with a smile.

Carter said students interested in applying for a Pay it Forward scholarship should visit the program’s website.