Man graduates from NYU nursing school after getting his start there as a janitor

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Eyewitness News ABC7NY)

published 24 May 2019

Not long after he immigrated to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic, Frank Baez got a job that would change the course of his life.

He was 17, and started working as a janitor at New York University's Tisch Hospital in order to help support his mom and two brothers. Baez became intrigued by the medical field and was impressed by the hard-working nurses, and decided he wanted to become one. Baez earned his bachelor's degree from Hunter College, becoming the first person in his family to graduate from college, and then returned to NYU, enrolling in the Rory Meyers College of Nursing.

Nataly Pasklinsky, director of simulation learning at the school, worked as a nurse at Tisch Hospital when Baez was a janitor. "He was always compassionate to patients and families," she told CNN. "He would ask the nurses questions about patient care and what it takes to become a nurse. My colleagues and I encouraged him to follow his dream." This week, Baez, now 29, graduated with his nursing degree. He remembers what it was like to barely speak English when he first came to the U.S., and hopes to work with Spanish-speaking patients, removing language barriers. He still has to take his licensing boards, but plans on applying for a nursing position at NYU as soon as he can. Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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