CJMM, Inc.’s 2015 Scholarship winner Jasmine Fuller
By Teri Cadeau on May 29, 2015, Budgeteer News, www.duluthbudgeteer.com
Denfeld senior Jasmine Fuller has a busy schedule.
She’s in Upward Bound at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Girls Group with Men as Peacemakers, volunteers at the Washington Center with Neighborhood Youth Services in the summer, maintains her honor roll grades and works at Dairy Queen.
But at least there’s one thing she can cross off her busy schedule: worrying about paying for all of her college tuition on her own. Fuller is the recipient of the 2015 Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial, Inc. scholarship. The $2,500 scholarship won’t cover all of her tuition costs, but it will alleviate some of the financial burden.
“It was a relief off of my shoulders. I knew that paying for college would be hard, so I’m just so thankful and proud,” Fuller said.
“Jasmine was an excellent candidate. Her accomplishments were numerous. She’s worked hard to support the community to be involved and engaged in ways that make a difference,” said Scherrie Foster, CJMM director and chair of the scholarship committee.
After she graduates on June 4, Fuller plans to attend Lake Superior College for two years, then transfer to the University of Wisconsin Superior for business administration. She also plans to take a certified nursing assistant course this summer so she can work and support herself through college.
All CJMM applicants are required to write an essay or poem or create a video that addresses racism in their lives or the importance of the memorial. Fuller’s essay stood out.
“It was very compelling, vulnerable, and brave. She talked about her own life and how it paralleled a lot of what is happening in the country at large right now around racism,” Foster said. “It was very forthright in talking about how as a young black woman she wanted to be a change agent in the world.”
“I wrote about how I was trying to get a job at the age of 13 to help pay for food and stuff,” Fuller said. “I wrote about how things on the news recently affected me.”
“I wrote about how I was trying to get a job at the age of 13 to help pay for food and stuff,” Fuller said. “I wrote about how things on the news recently affected me.”
Fuller also wrote about the incident in March when a photoshopped picture of a noose around the neck of an African-American Denfeld student circulated in social media.
“It made me feel uncomfortable at school. I was shocked when it happened. It just showed me that racism is still here,” Fuller said.
Fuller also wrote about her mother, Dantey Lowe, and how she raised Jasmine and her twin brother, Jermaine, as a single parent. She says her mother’s advice and wisdom has pushed her in the right direction.
“My mom is my role model. She always gives me good advice. She told me not to feed into the negative. Just stay positive, keep your head up and keep going,” Fuller said.
Her other role model is her guidance counselor, Geri Saari, because she gave her the motivation to do well in school.
“She tells me to keep up the good work and I tell her about scholarships and stuff. She was so excited when I told her about this one,” Fuller said.
In addition to receiving a scholarship, Foster says she hopes Fuller receives some “nurturing” from the committee.
“We keep in touch with our recipients and build a relationship with them. We invite them to our annual fundraising dinner where they talk about their first year of college, Foster said.
Jasmine Fuller will also speak at the CJMM Day of Remembrance on Monday, June 15.