A Pennsylvania mom could barely contain her emotions when she learned earlier this month that her son would be following her footsteps into nursing.
Abel Mezemer shared an Instagram reel on Sept. 9 showing his reaction, as well as his mother's and his niece's reactions, after they all learned he had passed his nursing licensure exam, also known as the NCLEX-RN exam.
In the video, after Mezemer's mom Asmeret Mengistu realizes Mezemer received a "pass" result, she yells and drums the table in excitement, raises her hands, and even breaks into a happy dance before squeezing him in a loving hug.
"I strategically made it so that I would take the exam, and then two days later, I'd find out with my mom because my mom was a nurse for 25 years, so this means just as much to me as it does to her, if not even more," Mezemer, who lives in New York, told "Good Morning America."
Mezemer, 36, went back to school in 2023 and graduated from an accelerated nursing program in August, but he said the process wasn't easy.
"It is the hardest and the loneliest thing that I've done in my life and it's a process that took 27 months," Mezemer said, adding that he didn't think he would pass his NCLEX-RN exam on his first try. "Seeing that pass just validated all of the work that I put into it, all of the long nights, the sleepless nights."
Mengistu, a mom of two who came to the U.S. from Ethiopia, told "GMA" she remembers when she first took her NCLEX exam over 20 years ago. She said recalling how it felt for her then made her feel anxious for her son, even though she said she had full confidence in him.
"I remember 25 years plus when I took my NCLEX exam, I failed the first time," the 66-year-old said. "I got it the second time when I took it, so I know how stressful it is."
Mezemer said he credits his mom in part for his success so far.
"Everything that I have accomplished or will accomplish is because of my mom and the example that she set for me while I was growing up," he said.
Now that Mezemer is starting a new chapter as a registered nurse, Mengistu, who was a nurse for more than two decades, first as a pediatric nurse and then an emergency department nurse, said she is overcome with pride and joy for her son.
"I'm so happy for him to the point, like, I couldn't hold my emotion," she said. "My son is not only an RN, but he's following [in] my footsteps."
Mezemer said he recently accepted a new job as a pediatric emergency department nurse at a New York City hospital.
"He's going to be amazing. He's going to be an excellent, excellent nurse," Mengistu said.
