Many people see their parents as role models. Especially when we’re young, a lot of us look up to our moms and dads, hoping to follow in their footsteps, trying to be just like them, and even sometimes deciding to do the exact same jobs as them as well.

That seemed to be the case for young Jasmine Kudji. Her mom, Cynthia, was a nurse, and Jasmine grew up with a passion for helping people and a desire to break into the medical profession someday too.

But neither Jasmine nor Cynthia could imagine how their future would play out.

Cynthia had always wanted to be a doctor, but when she became pregnant at the age of 23, the Ghana native had to put her medical school plans on hold.

Still, even while raising her daughter, Cynthia never gave up on her dream. She worked as a nurse and nurse practitioner, someday hoping to take the next step and become a doctor.

Years later, when Jasmine was old enough to be heading off to med school herself, Cynthia decided the time was right!

Both women wanted to become doctors, but after being accepted by totally different schools, they had to face up to the fact that they’d be spending a lot of time apart.

Jasmine would study at the LSU School of Medicine in Louisiana, and Cynthia would pursue her medical school qualifications at the University of Medicine and Health Sciences in St. Kitts, before later finishing up her degree in Maine.

The mom and daughter had never been so far apart for such a long time, but both agreed that they’d have to make this sacrifice in order to bring their dreams to life.

It was a difficult time for both women, as Jasmine explained in an interview with UMHS:

I think initially it was difficult because my mom and I have always been really close so I had to get used to the distance, we had to learn how to FaceTime and Skype each other, so we were Skyping each other every day and whenever I had struggles and she had struggles, we just had to learn to communicate from a distance, but I think over time we figured it out.

It clearly wasn’t always easy for the pair to be apart, and their studies proved challenging too, but in April, all of their hard work paid off as the pair graduated medical school at the exact same time!

Cynthia got an M.D. in Family Medicine, while Jasmine earned her M.D. in General Surgery. But their happy ending still had one last surprise in store.

On ‘Match Day’, which is when med school graduates receive the results of their residency and fellowship applications, Cynthia and Jasmine were astonished to see that they’d both be going to LSU Health!

After spending all that time apart, finally they were about to get back together, becoming the first mom-daughter duo to graduate from medical school simultaneously and get matched at the same hospital.

It’s a wonderful way for their med school story to conclude, and their lives as doctors are only just beginning!

This story just goes to show that even though life doesn’t always go the way we expect, we can still make our dreams come true, and we wish Cynthia and Jasmine every success in the years ahead!

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Source: UMHS, Dr. Kudji Sylvester, Inspire More