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My Educational Path


Jasmine Thornton

Jasmine Thornton

Respiratory Therapist

Comer Children's Hospital

Listen to your heart. Do not be afraid to switch careers at any time during your journey. There’s never a clear path in the journey of life.

About Jasmine

  • Both my mother and grandmother are nurses, so nursing has always been on my mind for my own career path.
  • I initially went away to college as a pre-nursing major, but didn’t feel like the school was right for me, so I transferred into the nursing program at a community college back home.
  • That nursing program wasn’t a great fit either, so I decided to complete my associate’s degree in science instead, and became a preschool teacher.
  • I loved being a preschool teacher, but I knew that I ultimately wanted to go back into healthcare, so I went back to the community college to take some more classes.
  • After researching potential careers through a career development course and finding an interest in chemistry, I started thinking I’d like to work in cardiovascular perfusion.
  • I discovered that working in perfusion requires you to either be a nurse or a respiratory therapist—I already knew nursing was not for me, so I applied to a respiratory therapist program at my school.
  • While in school, I got an internship at Comer Children’s Hospital, which really helped me gain insight into what I’d be doing once I graduate.
  • I now work as a respiratory therapist at Comer Children’s Hospital.