Janitor Graduates From University He Cleaned

The story of Frank Baez is as about as full circle as it can get. The 29-year-old recently graduated from New York University with a degree in nursing. The same New York University that he used to clean.

Baez spent his teenage years cleaning the patient rooms, restrooms and hallways of New York University’s Langone Tisch Hospital, Good Morning America reports.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Baez and his mom moved to New York when he was 15. He could barely speak English, but nonetheless made sure he’d succeed as a housekeeper at the hospital because the family needed his income.

Baez’s work as a housekeeper introduced him to the healthcare industry and soon he became interested enough in the field that he applied for a job that entailed him taking patients to and from rooms for surgeries. This job motivated him to enroll at Hunter College where he would earn a bachelor’s degree. Upon graduating form Hunter College, Baez enrolled at NYU’s Meyers College of Nursing, where he would later graduate with a 3.6 GPA after just 15 months.

Baez says his latest goal is to become a critical care nurse.

The story of Baez is somewhat similar to a story from 2018. Cairtriona Lully was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature From Trinity College Dublin, the same school she cleaned for 3.5 years.