It Is So Hard to Say Goodbye

As Jasmine Siler ends one journey and steps into the next one, we celebrate her hard work and dedication to young people through Project GRAD Knoxville. As her season here comes to an end, we would like to share a little bit of background about how she got to where she is now.

Before Jasmine Siler became the College and Career Success Coach with Project GRAD Knoxville, she started out as a Scholarship Recipient with GRAD. Jasmine is a part of the 2008 cohort, graduating from Austin-East Magnet High School. After graduating from Austin-East, she started her post-secondary education journey at Tennessee State University. While attending TSU, Jasmine assisted Ms. Annette Long, a College and Career Success Coach, by serving as an ambassador of Project GRAD for her school. She took her role to heart and truly made an impact on all of those she helped. If any of the Knoxville scholars needed assistance at TSU or in the Nashville area while at other post-secondary institutions, Jasmine was always there to assist when needed.

Jasmine continued to act in that role throughout her four years of undergraduate studies and as it came to a close, she was met with a surprise. The week of Jasmine’s graduation, she was offered a position at the Project GRAD Knoxville office as an assistant for Ms. Long, which she happily accepted. Jasmine graduated with her bachelor’s degree in health sciences, becoming a first generation student in her family, successfully completing the college journey. She certainly felt the love of her accomplishment as her family, friends, and support coach were there to cheer her on the whole way.

As Jasmine began her position with GRAD, to no surprise, she immediately fit right in, as she was familiar with requirements of the staff from her experience as an ambassador. As a veteran Scholar, she knew how to work with the rising cohorts and did her duty exceptionally well. While working with GRAD, Jasmine was also furthering her education by pursuing her master’s degree. She completed her masters in the winter of 2019 at Lincoln Memorial University, earning a degree in mental health counseling.

In the seven years that Jasmine has been a coach, she has made a tremendous impact on our scholars! She has built lifelong mentorships with scholars and has been a bright star of hope and encouragement to the community. As much as it saddens us to see her go, we celebrate her new beginning! Jasmine has resigned from her position as a College and Career Success Coach with GRAD and will transition to a new field of work in mental health. She has been offered and accepted a position with Helen Ross McNabb as a school therapist. We are proud of Jasmine and know she will be great in her new field, and we would like to say thank you Ms. Jasmine for the commitment, perseverance, and passion you gave to the fullest extent! Thank you for showing us that graduation really achieves dreams! Go be great!