A Detroit mother and daughter graduated from nursing school together

TOLEDO, Ohio — Graduating from college is a big accomplishment, but getting your degree with a family member makes it even more special.

That’s what happened to one mother and daughter who graduated together from Toledo this spring.

Mother and daughter Shalisa and Misha Davis are from Detroit, but they graduated from high school together Chondros College of Nursing in Toledo.

“We found Hondros and I wanted to go. So she decided she wanted to go too. So, we just decided to do it together,” Shalisa said.

Shalisa has been a practical nurse for more than 20 years, but she said she wants to do more in the field. The mother said she was glad she was allowed to walk across the stage first because her emotions were very high.

“As a mother, when you watch your kids graduate from college, you feel kind of complete,” Shalisa said. “You feel like a parent, even though we made mistakes, we did something right.”

And it was right. Shalisa’s daughter Misha literally followed in her mother’s footsteps.

Mishay said she was inspired to join her mother in the classroom and acknowledged that they both played the role of mom.

“[I would] monitor her, like, ‘you studied this, you did your homework,’ instead of yelling at me to do my homework,” Mishai said.

The couple weren’t the only ones in the family celebrating their hard work this year. Misha’s brother and Shalisa’s son, Justin Davis, also graduated from college just a week later. Mother and daughter say his accomplishments have made them even sweeter, and they credit him for helping them.

“On days when we both had to be at school or at the clinic, he held my daughter and my granddaughter, so he was a challenging part of the program for us,” Shalisa said.

Mishai passed her boards and plans to continue her studies. She hopes to become a family physician.

Shalisa said she wanted to open her own clinic to help communities with less access to health care.