Shalisa and Misha Davis, a mother and daughter duo from Detroit, Michigan, shared a colossal accomplishment together. According to a May 14 report from WTOL, Shalisa and Misha graduated together from the Hondros College of Nursing in Toledo, Ohio.
They began their journey through nursing school together when Shalisa, who has 20 years of practical nursing experience already, wanted to advance her career in the medical field and decided to go back to college to achieve that. Mishay, inspired by her mother’s decision to return to nursing school, decided that she would apply as well so that the pair could earn their degrees together. Shalisa told the outlet, “We found Hondros, and I wanted to go. So she decided that she wanted to go as well. So, we just decided to do it together.”
The mother and daughter duo were working together in classes and lab studies, and they supported each other outside of the classroom with studying and homework.
“[I would] stay on top of her, like ‘did you study this, did you get your homework done,’ versus her yelling at me to get your homework done,” Mishay recounted. Not only did they support each other, but the Davis were also supported by their family while they pursued their career goals. Mishay’s brother, Justin – who also graduated from college himself this year, helped the pair however he could with whatever they needed.
“The days where we both had to be at school or clinicals, he kept my daughter and granddaughter, so he was an intricate part in the program for us,” Shalisa expressed.
When their graduation day finally came, Mishay followed behind her mother as they crossed the stage together. Shalisa described the emotional moment, “As a mother, when you watch your children graduate from college, you feel kind of complete. You feel as a parent, even though we made mistakes, we did something right.”
As for their plans after graduating from nursing school together, both want to continue to help people with their education. Shalisa told WTOL that she wants to open her own clinic that would work to serve marginalized communities who don’t have easy access to healthcare resources. Mishay, after having already passed her board exams, wants to continue onto even higher education and then go into family practice.
