When Maria Blanco migrated to Miami from Venezuela at 14, she couldn’t speak a word of English. “Not even the numbers one to ten,” she said. “It’s funny because I wasn’t proficient in English, but I had all honors and AP classes. And people were like, ‘What? How?’”
A decade later, Blanco continues to impress. While earning her accelerated B.S.N. degree at the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies, she was accepted to the United States Navy Nurse Candidate Program, a lifelong ambition. “I always knew I wanted to go into the military to serve as a health professional,” she said.
Making this achievement even more inspiring, four years ago, while completing her bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences at the University of South Florida, Blanco became pregnant. “I had my daughter right after graduation,” she said.
Instead of attending medical school as planned, she took an academic break, working in a chemistry lab at Miami Dade College. But her break didn’t last long. “I’m a very positive person,” said Blanco. “I’m always trying to challenge myself and if something happens, I try to say, ‘OK, how can that make me a good human being?’”
After an intensive, year-long application process that included three rounds of interviews and countless recommendation letters, Blanco, a former softball athlete in high school, went on to pass the Navy’s battery of physical fitness and medical tests.
In November 2024, she received the long-awaited phone call from her recruiter. “He said, ‘Congratulations, you got into the program,’” she recalled. “I couldn’t believe it because that was something I really wanted to do, and sometimes you can have imposter syndrome.” A few months later, the Navy made it official. “They did a ceremony, and I signed my contract,” Blanco said. “I’m kind of nervous, but I’m really excited too. I like to be challenged. I like change. Not everybody gets the opportunity to do this.”
Exams behind her, Blanco will soon earn her nursing degree and study to pass the licensing exam required to become a registered nurse. “The program really prepares you,” she said of her year-long B.S.N. program. After Commencement, she will undergo five weeks of officer training while her parents care for her daughter. “She’s very close to my mom and dad and my grandparents,” said Blanco, who recently learned that after training she’ll report to the prestigious Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Blanco sees a future in which she will lead others and share her knowledge of health care. “I can’t wait to not only provide care to patients, but also serve the country and those who fight every day for our nation,” she said. More than anything, she looks forward to starting this new adventure with her daughter, Gianna, age 4, by her side. “At the end of the day, we do it for them [our children],” she said. “We try to look for the best opportunities. I’m trying to raise her how my parents raised me. We came here looking for opportunities. Now I have to do the same for her.”
