Although Maria Kaber, B.S.H.S. ’25, never knew her grandfather, his memory inspires her dreams to this day. “My dad always used to tell me stories about how he was the only doctor in his rural area, and he was well-respected,” said Kaber, a graduating School of Nursing and Health Studies student. “I said, that’s cool. I want to be like that one day. My father used to say to me, ‘Inshallah (God willing). Don’t worry, you will, you will.’”
Kaber’s road to higher education is paved with resilience and service, guided by the sacrifices of her immigrant parents and a deep-rooted desire to honor their legacy. Since 7th grade, she’s worn the same necklace bearing an Arabic symbol that reads “Allahu,” or God Is Great. “I never take it off. It would take a surgical procedure,” she joked.
Before she was born, her mother and father left Bangladesh for South Florida, working in convenience stores and gas stations to make life good for her and her little sister. They taught perseverance, emphasized the importance of education. “My dad especially told me school should be my number-one priority,” recalled Kaber, who at age 3 was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease.
In high school, Kaber’s illness suddenly progressed to end-stage renal failure. “Junior year for high school students is like the most important year, and that threw a big wrench in my plans,” she said. From early 2019 to mid-2020, Kaber received dialysis three times a week. Meanwhile COVID-19 shut down the world and forced school online. Still, not only did Kaber graduate on time, she received early decision admission to the University of Miami. “UM has always been my dream school,” she said. Just a few months after being accepted, she was awarded the University’s prestigious George W. Jenkins Scholarship, erasing the financial burden of her college education.
Soon another joyous event took place. “My mother graciously donated her kidney to me,” said Kaber. “I felt like I was on top of the world.” And for a time, she was. Still recuperating from the successful transplant, this first-generation college student from a low-income background immersed herself in her new life as a Cane. She cofounded the Disability Ambassadors. “It’s challenging navigating campus life as a disabled student,” said Kaber. “We empower disabled students and form a community with disabled students and allies to let people know they’re not alone.”
She also helped organize the Multicultural Affairs Office's Students of Culture Symposium, assisted with the Horizons preorientation program to welcome multicultural students, and became president of the Minority Association for Pre-Health Students (MAPS). In addition, Kaber began working in the lab of an internationally celebrated kidney disease researcher at the Miller School of Medicine. By junior year, she was having the time of her life. Then, in the midst of her pre-health professional development internship at Western University of Health Sciences in California, tragedy struck.
Kaber's father, seemingly healthy when she left Miami just weeks earlier, was in the hospital. She flew home immediately, leaving her program two weeks early. “My dad suddenly fell sick out of nowhere,” she said. “His liver was in shock. I tried to advocate for him because I’m premed.” She expected him to get an organ transplant and recover like she had. She even planned to take the semester off to care for him. “Unfortunately, that didn’t happen,” she said. Her father died soon after being transferred for his transplant. “That shook me to my core,” recalled Kaber. “I did not expect that, so that semester was rough, but I had a lot of support from my friends, faculty, and staff here at UM.”
Despite overwhelming grief, Kaber found renewed strength in her academic pursuits. “I don’t know why when it comes to major obstacles, I come out stronger at the end,” she said. “That semester I got a near-perfect GPA because I was able to just pour all of my emotions into school and focus. It gave me even more of a reason to pursue medicine.”
Senior year, Kaber received a University of Miami First Generation Legacy Award. The award describes her as a “beacon of hope for other first-generation students,” adding that “she is not only forging her own path but laying the groundwork for a legacy of hope, education, and empowerment.” Among those Kaber has empowered is her own sister, who’s now applying to colleges for fall.
After earning her Bachelor of Science in Health Science, with minors in public health and Spanish, Kaber is more committed than ever to the example set by a grandfather she never met. Following graduation, she plans to work as a medical scribe or medical assistant and study for the MCATs. Her ultimate goal is to become a pediatric nephrologist like the ones who saved her life. For the past three years, Kaber has been preparing to do just that through the lab of her award-winning mentor, Alessia Fornoni, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.S.N. “Dr. Fornoni has been a really big supporter because she knows my journey as well,” said Kaber. “As a kidney transplant patient, it’s been amazing to work with her and the team studying kidney disease, doing a 180 from patient to researcher.”
As a future physician, Kaber also aims to be a voice for “people of minority descent who have a lower socioeconomic status,” she said. "They’re just as important as other patients.” Patients like her father who, quite literally, because he was intubated, could not speak for himself. “Even though I tried my best to advocate for him, I felt I wasn’t heard," said Kaber. “It motivates me to finish strong and pursue medicine and hopefully save lives in that process.”
