{"id":111544,"date":"2020-08-03T10:13:33","date_gmt":"2020-08-03T14:13:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=111544"},"modified":"2020-11-27T11:52:28","modified_gmt":"2020-11-27T16:52:28","slug":"ucf-grad-surprises-mother-with-doctoral-degree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-grad-surprises-mother-with-doctoral-degree\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Grad Surprises Mother with Doctoral Degree"},"content":{"rendered":"

Loida Guill\u00e9n Strong \u201920DNP<\/strong> has always been inspired by her mother, Mercedes.<\/p>\n

Mercedes, grew up in the Dominican Republic and wanted to be a doctor.<\/p>\n

But right after Mercedes began medical school, her father died, and she had to abruptly drop out and give up her dream to help take care of her siblings.<\/p>\n

Later, as a parent herself, Mercedes moved 8-year-old Loida and her siblings to the United States.<\/p>\n

Loida gave her mother an incredible surprise over the weekend.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Aug. 1, Loida graduated from UCF with a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree<\/a> \u2014 and her mother had no idea.<\/p>\n

Under a ruse, Loida\u2019s husband drove Mercedes to UCF\u2019s College of Nursing<\/a> where Loida was waiting, in cap and gown, to break the surprise to her mom.<\/p>\n

She chose to disclose the surprise at the College of Nursing, where Loida has spent so much of the last three years, and where she\u2019s been able to finish what her mother started so many years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inspired to fulfill her mother’s dream, Loida Guill\u00e9n Strong \u201920DNP<\/strong> pursued a doctorate in nursing without telling her until she earned her diploma this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[15992,5],"tags":[4869,1004,18050,35966,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-111544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni","category-colleges","tag-college-of-nursing","tag-commencement","tag-graduation","tag-inclusive-excellence","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"\nUCF Grad Surprises Mother with Doctoral Degree | University of Central Florida News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Inspired to fulfill her mother's dream, Loida Guill\u00e9n 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