Mother and daughter don’t often simultaneously decide what they want to be when they “grow up.” But Loma Linda University students Bonnie and Rebecca Szumski each cracked the career code at about the same time.

Today, both are studying in the health information administration department in the School of Allied Health Professions. Bonnie is preparing to be a medical coding specialist, and Rebecca is studying health information administration.

Bonnie already had an established career. She worked as a nurse at LLU Medical Center in 1978 and 1979 and again from 1985 until 1997. Then, after working as a full-time homemaker for a few years, Bonnie found herself feeling drawn back to the workforce—but she wanted to try something other than nursing.

Hoping to teach algebra, she began studying for a math degree at California State University San Bernardino. But by her fourth calculus class, she felt overwhelmed.

Meanwhile, Rebecca was attending San Bernardino Valley College, trying to find the right major. She began studying at Loma Linda in 2003 as an occupational therapy student, but wasn’t happy with her choice. So, after more than a year of OT school and a few months of full-time working, she began studying health information administration.

While Rebecca was enjoying her studies, her mother was struggling with calculus assignments. Rebecca was taking a coding course at the time and thought it might be up her mother’s alley.

“I helped her read the doctors’ handwriting for her homework since I was used to reading doctors orders as a nurse,” Bonnie says. “She began to think that I would like coding.”

While Rebecca and Bonnie were eating lunch together at Canyon Cottage Restaurant in Colton, Rebecca suggested the idea, and Bonnie later decided to begin studying coding at LLU.

Now, several months into the program, Bonnie loves her studies as much as Rebecca does. She enjoys the fact that it is still in the medical field but won’t be hard on her feet or back the way nursing could be.

So what’s it like for mother and daughter to attend the same school? One benefit is having a built-in study partner. Even though they aren’t in the same program, Bonnie and Rebecca sometimes take similar courses and have even had a few prerequisite classes together at Crafton Hills College and San Bernardino Valley College.

“My class knows my mom is taking the coding course, and they say it’s not fair that I have the advantage of having a study partner at home,” Rebecca says. "They were jealous that I knew the meanings of the acronyms that the instructor asked aloud in class."

The two women have been able to quiz each other on similar terms they need to know, such as “deemed status” and “capitation.”

“My fellow students think it is neat that Rebecca and I are in the same area,” Bonnie says. “They say it is really cool that we will be graduating together. So do I.”

Come June 2007, mother and daughter are going to have a big graduation party, Rebecca says.

Life after school could result in a continued intersection of their paths. Rebecca aspires to be in charge of a medical records department—and Bonnie will work in one.

“Perhaps I will work for Rebecca someday,” Bonnie says. “I think it would be really funny to have my daughter as my boss. How do you work for a boss whose diapers you used to change?”