Jazmine Gallimore knew she wanted to go into finance from the time she was an SSP Scholar at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School (Class of 2015). In her native East Flatbush, Brooklyn, she had gone to the public Middle School for Marketing & Legal Studies. To find success, she knew she’d need to commit to her education and find a good environment to grow. That’s where SSP came in.
Jazmine’s mom, a public school teacher, found SSP and applied. Having seen public high schools in New York, Jazmine was thankful to be accepted as an SSP scholar, even if that meant a twice-daily 45-minute commute across Brooklyn by train. “Bishop Loughlin was great! It was very different from public school,” she said. “I would go by my mom’s school, and it was a very different environment – metal detectors, fights. I’m so thankful I didn’t go through that.”
Instead, Jazmine was in an environment that would set her up to succeed. Beyond the quality education she was receiving, she also had access to additional programming, like an accounting program though St. John’s University and the Financial & Scholastics Training Program through Goldman Sachs. As part of the latter, Goldman Sachs would send mentors to meet with students each Wednesday, while they also facilitated college tours.
To add to the opportunities, SSP gave even more supports to set Jazmine up to realize her dreams. Jazmine specifically recalled gathering with students being mentored and sponsored by Goldman Sachs employees near Battery Park. That was where she met her sponsor, SSP Board Member Pete Lyon. “I had a great experience with the program. I remember the tutoring with SSP, and it was great to connect with my mentor,” she said.
Jazmine graduated in 2015, went to Penn State, and then got a job at… Goldman Sachs. “I always wanted it. It was always a dream. I’m happy to be here,” Jazmine said. Upon starting, she reached out to her former SSP sponsor, and now he’s transitioned into a professional mentor for Jazmine. They met every few months to touch base and discuss Jazmine’s professional journey. “It’s great for it to come full circle.”
Now that Jazmine is setting into her career, she’d decided to give back to the same organization that helped her get where she is today. As her cousin TaiAnn started this year as a freshman SSP scholar at Bishop Loughlin, Jazmine decided it was time for her to go back to SSP too. She’s now mentoring two students, whom she met at a mentorship kickoff and then joined at our Fall Mentor-Mentee Bowling Outing.
“I know firsthand what it’s like. These kids go through a lot. Inner city youth and the environment you’re in, it can be challenging,” Jazmine said. “I want to give back and help the kids. I don’t remember what I was thinking in high school, but life comes fast. It’s important to see people like myself. I’ve definitely been a huge beneficiary of this program, so I want to give back to the students.”
