We Dare...

Eddie and Tamara Villavicencio’s 12-year marriage has been anything but ordinary, but things got even more interesting when the husband and wife became classmates at the U-M School of Nursing. 

The two met in Ensenada, Mexico, while working with a Christian missionary group. Eddie, who was born and raised in Mexico, was already working as a nurse when he met Tamara, who grew up in Williamston, Michigan. The two became close during their missionary work, fell in love and got married.

They remained in Mexico for the next few years and had two children. In 2015, they moved to the United States, but due to a series of complications, Eddie could not transfer his nursing license. He tried changing careers, working for a time with the U.S. Postal Service and at a local financial institution, but something didn’t feel right.

“The pay and benefits were good, but I was dying sitting behind a desk all day long,” he said.

After working for years as a birth doula and childbirth educator, Tamara wanted to become a nurse-midwife, and Eddie was ready to be a nurse again, so they decided to enroll at their local community college and eventually applied to U-M’s BSN program.

“I remember when Tamara got the acceptance email,” Eddie said. “She was screaming with excitement, and I was so afraid to open mine.”

As they raise their 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son, Eddie and Tamara commute together, study together and share the same class schedule, balancing responsibilities most of their classmates don’t have to consider.

“We have to be full-time parents and full-time students. We take the kids to swimming lessons, dance classes and do all of the things normal parents do,” Eddie explained. “Even though it’s a unique situation, it’s very nice to have a constant study buddy,” Tamara said.

From Ensenada to Ann Arbor, the Villavicencios have taken a nontraditional path to nursing school, but they’re grateful to be on this journey together.