Jazmine Francis
With a year and half to go before graduation, Alumni School Spirit Award recipient Jazmine Francis is excited about the future. The Bronx, N.Y., native, who majors in human biology and minors in Spanish, will study medicine – “That’s the plan!” she exclaims – to prepare for a career as a pediatrician. “Throughout my life, I’ve always loved kids,” Francis explains, noting that she’s a youth leader at her church, El Remaneate in Washington Heights. “I want to help young people academically and socially, and make sure they’re healthy all around.” Francis, 20, recalls her own pediatricians fondly: “They were always involved in my life, and each of them had an influence on me.”
The Alumni School Spirit Award “means a great deal to me, especially coming from a low-income background.” Francis, whose favorite class is chemistry lab because she enjoys its “hands-on” and “trial-and-error” aspects, has “been in love with the University since high school.” As one of just 70 in her graduating class, she was looking for a college that would offer her “a plethora of options – the opportunity to explore many majors and minors – as well as diversity and cultural awareness.” UAlbany has done just that, says Francis, who works in the University’s Department of Residential Life. “I feel that the University really cares about the well-being of its students.” Francis cites Ekow King, Amberly Carter, and Michelle Mora among the UAlbany staff who have “helped me grow into a well-rounded person. They’ve helped me learn more about myself.”