When Mario Halter came to the United States from Brazil, he had failed the fourth grade. Saturday, he'll watch as two of his daughters graduate from the University of Utah Medical School.
He's been bragging about Rebecca, 27, and Janet, 26, since both were accepted into the school. His daughters joke that he'll be too proud to speak when they become doctors, both heading toward family practice careers.
The sisters have always loved math and science, always been drawn to education. That may be, in part, because it meant so much to their father. When he arrived in America, he studied for a GED. Later, he earned a master's degree in education. Now he teaches high school economics. English was the fourth language he mastered. He and wife Janice have five children.
His daughters both knew at young ages that they would like to be doctors. Both are graduates of Brigham Young University, where Janet studied zoology and Rebecca earned her undergraduate degree in human biology and minored in psychology. They had been in different classes their whole lives because of the age difference, but Rebecca served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and they ended up in the same class at the medical school.
"It has been a blast. Are you kidding?" Janet Halter asked. "The first two years, we had all of our classes together. We haven't had rotations together, though."
"We were competitive, growing up together," Rebecca Halter said. "We had each other to feed off of. It was a lot of fun — especially the two years when we had classes (in medical school). We were able to catch up on the news. We're all close together as a class, but it's special to share it with a sister."
They didn't get their acceptances to the medical school on the same day. The time between was a nail biter.
They are very similar, they say, but not alike. They share friends and have separate friends. They go to movies together but live very separate lives. They are a little like their musical abilities. They favor different instruments — Janet the violin and Rebecca the piano — but sound good when they combine their talents.
Janet describes herself as a perfectionist and says Rebecca is more well-rounded. Rebecca says she doesn't know what Janet's talking about. They describe time they spend together as "a blast."
But they'll be spending less time together, starting next week. Rebecca Halter is going to do her residency at Valley Medical Center in Seattle. Janet Halter is staying here to complete her residency at St. Mark's Hospital.
Asked whether they might one day open a family practice together, both pause. They've never thought of it, they admit. It might be fun. It might be weird.
It might happen.
E-MAIL: lois@desnews.com