Humans of Hofstra: Jasmine Dang

“I was born in Connecticut. I was there only for six years and then we moved down to Florida because my parents were sick of the cold. We moved around a lot; I never really called one house ‘my home’ because we moved so much, and I think to this day I still don’t have a home in a way, because I’m always moving. Last year, I was in San Antonio, Texas, because I was in the military … until I got injured. I’m on a medical discharge now. I enlisted so they could pay for school. I have the 9/11 GI Bill that’s helping me attend Hofstra. My time at the military was … insane. It was intense; but coming from that to [Hofstra], I was already used to a lot of things. I lived in a dorm with 40 other girls for two months. [I had to] eat with them, share the bathrooms – it definitely shapes you. You mature a lot faster, especially in those two months, because of … being yelled at and having to respect other people in a very specific way, [like] using the formals ‘ma’am’ and ‘sir.’ I graduated from high school and went to this [technical] school for security forces training, which is basically like military police – fancy term for a cop. The training was really intense. I had to run every day from a certain time to a certain end time. The ruck on my back was 70 pounds and having to run with that, the impact gradually made my legs really bad. I have permanent leg fractures. It’s been a year since I’ve been out now, so its healing – it’s getting better. I actually didn’t know Hofstra existed until I applied to every school in New York [and] I got an email about Hofstra, so I was like, ‘OK, I’ll apply there as well.’ I was looking through Hofstra’s academics and they have a really good reputation, especially with the medical program. So, I’m undecided right now, but I am thinking of changing my major to health science because I want to be a vet. I want to start going to the feminist clubs [too] because I’m a huge advocate for that, a huge feminist. It’s just the committing.”