Hoskins’ story is one our area should be proud of

So much of my business is driven by bad news.

Corruption. Crime. Cheating. Steroids. Human Growth Hormone.

Those are all words that drive the day-to-day local and mainstream media.

People complain that we focus only on the bad news. That may or may not be true.

But if it is, it’s because the bad news is what drives the ratings in our business and draws money.

But for one week, we will put our foot on the brakes and stop that cycle – we’ll give you all a nice, warm story to wrap your arms around.

Today, I’ll tell the story of a survivor – a tale of one of the most courageous and diligent people that I’ve encountered in my almost eight years working in sports media.

Today, I want the Tri-parish world to meet Nicholls State nursing graduate Jasmine Hoskins – a local role model that deserves a great deal of recognition.

In this job, I have the opportunity to meet a lot of wonderful people – it’s the best thing about my work.

I met Ms. Hoskins indirectly in January 2011 when I was doing a feature story on Nicholls State women’s basketball player Sumar Leslie – a talented transfer who had just arrived in Thibodaux after two years at UL-Monroe.

Jasmine was Sumar’s teammate at the time – a junior post player.

She was also Sumar’s roommate, so as I worked on my story, I learned Hoskins’ story as well.

Basketball was what paid for Hoskins’ tuition, but she was always balanced – a true student-athlete.

At the time, the Texas native was a nursing student aiming to do the impossible – Hoskins was trying to be the school’s first-ever women’s basketball player to complete her eligibility on the team, while also graduating and getting pinned as a nurse.

As a fan of success stories, I gravitated to Hoskins and we have become close friends.

As someone whom Ms. Hoskins has learned to trust, she often relayed to me the tale of her triumph – I aim to share some of it with you in this piece.

The first thing I want the world to know about Jasmine Hoskins is the struggle. To get to the graduation stage, Jasmine had to endure the fight of her life.

Sure, she smiled and told everyone that everything was OK. That’s just her personality – she doesn’t want people to take time out of their day to worry about her problems.

But I know first-hand that she busted tail throughout her four years on the women’s basketball team.

Hoskins’ day-to-day routine consisted of waking up before the sun came out and going to bed around midnight – sometimes later.

She had clinicals during the day – which lasted from sun-up to sun-down. If she had a game during a day of clinicals, then she showed up to the gym approximately an hour before tip-off and played.

When she didn’t have clinicals, she had a full class schedule and also had to endure grueling practices.

She studied tirelessly. Hoskins didn’t get to enjoy a lot of the partying, the nightlife, nor any of the social activities that her teammates and classmates did.

When the Colonels were on the road seeing the country, Jasmine looked while holding a book in her arms.

While the team stayed in hotel rooms and teammates made memories and clowned around, Hoskins often sat alone and again babysat a book.

Jasmine did it all with grace and class – she handled the high-stress environment the best that she could.

But deep-down, there were moments where she wondered how long she could continue to push forward.

Basketball was hard for Hoskins. She came to Nicholls as a small forward. But because the Colonels lacked big bodies, she played center – and took a beating.

Her body often felt battered and bruised. She wore many battle scars from either practices or games.

As she laid in bed studying at night, her bones and joints ached.

She expressed frustration to her inner circle. But to those on the outside, she smiled, stayed patient and continued to press forward.

The reason for Jasmine’s faith and ability to persevere is her family.

Her mother Cassandra Hoskins instilled into her the meaning of hard work and determination.

Hoskins has a young sister Breauja Blake, whom she adores and loves.

In any conversation with Hoskins, she mentions the young, energetic little girl. In times of chaos, she always pointed to the young child as her inspiration and said that she would never let herself quit because she wanted to set a good example for her sister.

It took blood, sweat and tears. It took hours of studying, four years of abusing her body and countless difficult exams, but Hoskins finally did it.

This past school semester, she overcame the odds and finally polished off her degree.

In late May, while surrounded by her friends, family and peers, Hoskins was given both her degree and her coveted pin – making her an official nurse.

She aims to continue her education going forward to better her standing in the always-competitive medical field.

Regardless how that turns out, the history will not change: Jasmine Hoskins is the Colonels’ first-ever women’s basketball nursing graduate.

Her triumph makes this sports reporter proud.