No Barriers Will Stand In Her Way

To say that Jasmin Martinez is driven would be a colossal understatement.

Perhaps her inner fire to soar to new heights comes from her childhood:

“My parents come from humble beginnings,” Jasmin says. “Personally, lacking financial security as a child motivated me to strive forward and do whatever it took to accomplish my career goals.”

This motivation resulted in attaining a B.S. in microbiology and immunology from UC Merced—and a career dream of becoming a clinical laboratory scientist. Researching how to apply to a CLS program, Jasmin realized that the prerequisites needed were not covered during her undergraduate. So she turned to our Clinical Laboratory Scientist Preparatory Program, where her fire, drive and overall “get up and go” energy would bring down any barriers to achieving her success—pandemic included.

Dedication to Her Studies

Jump-starting her pathway to being a competitive applicant to a CLS program, Jasmin started with one course in our program and never looked back.

It began with Medical Microbiology, pre-pandemic and in person. Her goal was to put all of her focus into absorbing and retaining all of the knowledge she was gaining and to earn the best-possible grade in order to elevate her GPA and make her CLS application shine.

Here’s where that inner drive really comes to play:

“Once a week, I would drive from Pleasanton to Berkeley right after work,” Jasmin recalls. “At this point, I had obtained a job as a laboratory technician at Eurofins. Keep in mind: As a recent grad, I had moved back home with my parents who live in Stockton. Thus, I would wake up at 5:30 am, drive to work—a two-hour commute—and work from 8 am to 4:30 pm.

“After work, I’d drive to Berkeley for the three-hour class that started at 6:30 pm. After class, I would start my commute back home at 9:30 pm and arrive at my parents’ by 11 pm.”

So enthralled in the coursework, Jasmin continued her studies with Quantitative Analysis: Applications in Clinical Chemistry, Immunology and Introduction to Human Physiology. And ever the achiever, despite only needing three courses to earn her Award of Achievement, Jasmin opted to take that Introduction to Human Physiology as an additional course.

My parents come from humble beginnings. Personally, lacking financial security as a child motivated me to strive forward and do whatever it took to accomplish my career goals.

No WiFi Won’t Hold Her Back

In the midst of taking her Immunology course, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the world turned upside down. Her work hours were cut short and in-person classes moved to virtual. But Jasmin would not be deterred from achieving her goals.

“Living in the outskirts of Stockton, it was a difficult time because I had no access to WiFi,” Jasmin says. “I would say the COVID pandemic affected my coursework significantly. Due to the stay-at-home order, I couldn’t go to public WiFi access locations such as Starbucks because they did not allow people inside their stores. I remember taking my final exam for Immunology in the Starbucks parking lot while it was raining outside. To say the least, I only had two hours to complete a three-page short essay exam using public WiFi. Despite this shortcoming, I still managed to get a B, which had been my initial goal for the course.”

And with dedication comes its rewards: Jasmin applied and was accepted into the UCSF Clinical Laboratory Scientist Training Program, successfully completing it in March 2023. Describing that year-long learning experience, Jasmin says:

“The CLS program at UCSF is dedicated to teaching you real-world application techniques used in everyday work as a CLS. The curriculum includes concepts of microbiology, hematology, urinalysis, chemistry and blood bank. My typical day consisted of doing real-time analysis of specimens under the direct supervision of a licensed CLS. My hours were Monday through Friday, 7 am to 4 pm, with the last two hours reserved for lectures, completing homework modules or study time. In addition, I would allocate an additional two hours of study time each day. On weekends, I would take six hours each day to review material learned over the week.”

Dedication and hard work, indeed.

Goal Accomplished: Work Mode Activated

Today, you’ll find Jasmin working in Transfusion Services at Stanford Medicine. She credits Joey Núñez—her blood bank trainer and teacher at UCSF—with introducing her to this exciting work.

“The real-life techniques he taught during my training translate very well into my day-to-day now as a licensed CLS,” Jasmin praises. “Joey’s enthusiasm over the topic positively impacted me, moving me to pursue a career in blood banking.”

So dedicated to this work that when I ask her about her future career plans, she says that she currently can’t see herself working anywhere else but at Stanford Medicine.

Looking back on all that she’s accomplished, Jasmin has these wise words for anyone interested in our Clinical Laboratory Scientist Preparatory Program:

“Set short-term goals that are realistic for you as an individual to achieve. Then write down the steps you plan to take that will lead you to achieve each short-term goal.

“After some time of working toward these goals, check-in with yourself: Do you have the capabilities to complete these steps or do you need to re-evaluate your goals?”

It’s the same advice she gave herself back in 2019 when she set out on this educational journey to land her career goals.

Driven, indeed.