When Frank Baez was just a teenager, he started working as a janitor at New York University's Langone Tisch Hospital. He cleaned everything from patient rooms, to bathrooms and hallways.
Now at 29-years-old, he graduated with a nursing degree form the same university he started as a janitor.
At 15-years-old, he moved to New York from the Dominican Republic with his mom. Baez said "I could barely speak English at the time when I started working at NYU. Now I reflect on it and I feel very proud of how much I accomplished."
He worked as a janitor because he wanted to help support his family. Once he started, he was intrigued by the medical field and applied for a job transporting patients to and from their rooms for surgeries and tests.
Eventually, he left his job to finish his bachelor's degree at Hunter College, making him a first generation college graduate.
He said "While working [at NYU] with the nurses, I realized I wanted to be one of them. I learned how much they advocate for their patients and the passion they have for their job."
He was very determined and graduated from an accelerated program that allowed him to earn a nursing degree in just 15 months. The Director of Simulation Learning, Natalya Pasklinsky, said "our program is extremely rigorous. Frank didn’t just kind of make the program, barely getting through. He flew through it with flying colors."
Baez is looking toward his next goal which is to become a critical care nurse in an intensive care unit.
He encourages others to never give up. What an amazing young man!
Watch the video below!