Jasmin LeCadre (BS ‘26) Earns Nursing Degree While Battling Breast Cancer
May 22, 2026
Every month for the past two years, Jasmin LeCadre would finish up her classes at NYU Meyers and head to a cancer clinic. But she wasn’t there to gain clinical experience—she was there as a patient.
Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019, Jasmin still gets monthly infusions to keep her cancer at bay. But the medications wipe her out. During nursing school, she managed the exhaustion by scheduling treatments at the end of the week, so she had weekends to regain her energy.
This week, Jasmin graduated from NYU Meyers with a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Finishing nursing school feels surreal for the 49-year-old Staten Island resident and mother of two.
“You know when you go hiking and you get to the top, and you look down surveying all you’ve done? You’re like, ‘Wow, I did this.’ That’s what it feels like,” she says.
Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Jasmin was always drawn to nursing—but for decades she put others first. After moving to New York, she worked in many caregiving roles: as a nanny, helping mothers with new babies, as a CNA caring for people at the end of their lives, and raising her own two children. Watching “Call the Midwife” showed her the possibility of caring for mothers and babies by bringing care to people where they are.
It was during the pandemic and after she recovered from her breast cancer surgery—when she experienced first-hand the power of compassionate nurses, including an OR nurse who shared her first name—that she decided to return to college herself.
After excelling at CUNY’s Borough of Manhattan Community College and earning an associate’s degree in science for health, Jasmin transferred to NYU Meyers in the fall of 2024 through NYU’s Community College Transfer Opportunity Program (CCTOP), which provides scholarships for high-achieving students. At NYU Meyers, she connected with Amy Knowles, an associate dean and a fellow breast cancer survivor, and dove into her nursing coursework and clinicals.
Taking maternity nursing and community health classes reinforced Jasmin’s passion for caring for mothers and babies. She hopes to land a nursing job in New York City after passing her licensing exam this summer, and plans to return to NYU for graduate school to become a midwife and build a career in community nursing.
“Nursing school allowed me to ask questions, to continue expanding my knowledge, to be curious,” she says. “It just feels like I'm supposed to be doing this.”
