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Cristina Pena: A hospital custodian who influenced her daughter Johana to become a doctor.
For 18-years, Cristina has been a custodian at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland, California.
And for many more years than that, a devoted wife and mother!
Over the years, she brought her daughter, now 29, to the hospital for them to be together and to share in her fascination with the importance of medicine.
Now that influence is paying off.
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Her daughter Johana is a 4th year medical student at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in Grand Rapids, where she received a partial scholarship.
And she has worked at that Kaiser Permanente along with her mother.
After graduating from medical school, Johana, who plans to become a psychiatrist, wants to do her residency there.
"My parents came here from Mexico when they were 18, in search of the American Dream", she told The Washington Post.
"They worked so hard so they could raise a family and give us a better life."
Initially, her father Nicolas worked in a warehouse until a large container dropped on him. He was no longer able to work, and today still lives with chronic pain.
So, he switched roles with Johana's mother, staying home to take care of Johana and her three siblings, while her mother cleaned homes, and subsequently joined Kaiser.
"I know that I am here today because of my mom's and my father's sacrifices," she told ABC News.
"It's crazy how life works sometimes. I get to work with my mom, at the same hospital in the same department."
"She raised a Latina physician in the making! Thank you, mama, I am so proud to be your daughter."
Editor's Note: To learn more washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/10/15/medical-school-student-custodian-mother/ and abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/mother-daughter-work-hospital-82496776
In the next KazanToday: Ginny Burton - From a 12-year-old meth addict, to a 17-time felon to a college graduate with honors.
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