Maryland mother-daughter duo tackle nursing school dreams together

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (7News) — As we get older, childhood dreams often become a distant memory. For one Maryland woman, they are coming true thanks to her daughter.

"Well, I have always wanted to be a nurse," said Carrie Rodevick.

Although her caring and empathetic spirit would lend to a pleasant bedside manner, life had other plans. She works at Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center in corporate compliance.

“So, I’m actually on the other side of things where the bills go out," she explained.

An important job with supportive colleagues, but not her true calling.

“I wish I was that person over there taking care of that patient," she told 7News Health and Wellness Reporter Victoria Sanchez.

Like for so many of us, life happened. Carrie got married, had two children, and soon became the breadwinner of the family. Her dream of becoming a nurse would stay just that, a dream. Or so she thought.

“And then with my little catalyst over here who’s like, ‘Just do it, mom.’”

Carrie's catalyst is her 21-year-old daughter, Rachel Gwin.

“My whole life, ever since, I feel like the first time I remember her saying it, I was 5 years old, is her saying, ‘I wish I was a nurse,'" she said.

Rachel is a student at Anne Arundel Community College located just outside Annapolis, Maryland.

"I knew I had to go to her and be like, ‘Mom, you have to come back, you have to come to school. AACC is the perfect place to do it. Come back with me, we’ll study together, we’ll take on the load together.’ I didn’t want to leave her behind. I couldn’t leave my mom behind," Rachel told Sanchez.

After some convincing, Carrie joined her daughter. The mother-daughter duo now nursing students together.

“You have a built-in study buddy!” Sanchez said.

“Yup, right at home!” said Rachel.

“And we’re still getting along," commented Carrie.

“I just go to her door and knock and go, ‘Hey, mom. Could you come and explain this part of the chapter for me?’" Rachel added with a laugh.

After a couple of detours in her own education journey, Rachel is a dean's list student.

“I remember thinking, ‘Oh, OK. I can do it. Just because I dropped out of high school, it doesn’t mean anything. It just means that I took a different path.”

And that new path includes her mom who is fulfilling a decades-old dream.

“When I look back, graduating from community college, I want to be able to look at the picture and it’s not just me standing there, I want it to be me and my mom standing there both getting our diplomas," Rachel said.

The pair plan on getting their registered nurse degree in the fall of 2025.