Jasmine Braxton

Curry School of Education ’12

Jasmine Braxton is not your typical student-athlete.

Growing up, Braxton played softball and basketball, and ran indoor track. At the University of Virginia, she doesn’t play on a varsity team but follows a path that allows her to pursue her passion for sports.

Thanks to AccessUVa, Braxton (Curry ’12), a first-generation college student from Amherst, Virginia, is attending the University and majoring in kinesiology with a concentration in sports medicine.

Her mother, Linda Braxton, is a single mom who holds a high school diploma and professional certification in home healthcare and personal nursing. Jasmine Braxton’s two younger sisters, Bryanna and Skyler Morton, live at home with their mother.

Learning that Braxton qualified for AccessUVa was a huge relief for the family. “The ads say, ‘Don’t let the money stop you,’” she said. “But it was stopping us. AccessUVa and U.Va. have opened a lot of doors, not only for me but for my sisters and younger cousins.”

In addition to her studies, Braxton works two jobs—as a facility attendant with the University’s Aquatic & Fitness Center and as an intern in sports marketing with the Department of Athletics. Her football season duties include firing a T-shirt gun into the crowd.

In her spare time, Braxton volunteers with the athletic department’s trainers, physical therapists, and nutritionists. She is interested in a career as a physical therapist working with athletes.

Friends back home at the Oak Hill Baptist Church—where she’s been a member since she was six—keep an eye on her progress.

“They use me as an example for their kids,” Braxton said. “Letting them down is not an option.”