At 19 years old in 2014, Jasmine-Kortney Young-Gusman ’26 began her journey in the health care field as a Medical Assistant and Technician at Straub Benioff Medical Center. After working there for nine years, she found out she was pregnant. The delivery was a harrowing experience for her. She needed an unmedicated, emergency cesarean section. During the surgery, a nurse stood by Young-Gusman, holding her hand, and ensuring she didn’t feel alone in the Operating Room.
“Having her [the nurse] there with me was a comfort in probably the scariest moment I’ve ever experienced,” Young-Gusman said. “After going through that I realized, I could be someone’s comfort and hold their hand and help them,” she explained.
That experience motivated her to apply to and start nursing school even with a ten-month-old son.
“It took a lot for me to come back to school because I think if I didn’t go through that with my son, I would have just returned to my job,” Young-Gusman reflected.
Her son is now four years old and will be cheering his mom on at Chaminade University’s Spring 2026 Commencement Ceremony at the Waikiki Shell on May 9. She is graduating with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and receiving Latin honors. She was also selected for Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, which has criteria of a minimum 3.0 GPA and being within the top 35% of their graduating class.
Young-Gusman says her biggest struggle in the past four years was balancing being a present mom for her son while also ensuring that she was meeting her goals in school.
“I had a lot of doubts even though I’m a very confident person and I know I’m smart and I’m capable. It took a lot of sleepless nights, crying and praying,” she said.
There were times she had to miss bed time with her son or was unable to go to his baseball games because she had clinical or needed to study. She said it was very draining but she kept in mind that the sacrifices were temporary.
“It all paid off because not only am I graduating with my bachelors, I was the first person in my whole family to go to college so I’m a first generation,” Young-Gusman stated.
Completing nursing school can be daunting. Young-Gusman couldn’t have done it without her support system.
“I‘ve had professors that have been so loving and supportive,” she said.
While working towards her degree, Young-Gusman did her nursing preceptorship in the ER. She says she thrives in the ER environment because it’s fast-paced, very demanding and she loves it.
Young-Gusman has already started working on the next step in her career. She has accepted a job offer from The Queen’s Medical Center – West Oʻahu for the Emergency Technician position and will start soon. She hopes to transition to the Queen’s Hawai‘i Nurse Residency Program in September or January.
She says she’s made life-long friends through Chaminade University. Her advice to incoming students is to believe in yourself, find people that believe in you and hold onto them.
“I didn’t think I could do this, and I did and it’s only because I found the right people. I found the right friends and the right professors who rally behind me,” she said.