At Radford, grad Jasmine Boyce built a bridge to confidence and success

The day-to-day office job often gets a bad rap, but Jasmine Boyce ’26 longs for a cozy office surrounded by spreadsheets, data-driven projects and co-worker camaraderie.

And she wants to help other 9-to-5 workers feel the same.

“I feel like desk jobs are where I thrive,” said the recent Radford University graduate. “I want to make the workplace feel less like a stuffy office job and more like a place of comfort for employees.”

Boyce aspires to find employment as an industrial/organizational psychologist, or more specifically, working as a digital organizational specialist. But that’s a couple of years down the road. There’s more education ahead for the Williamsburg, Virginia, native.

“I’m coming right back to Radford,” said Boyce, who was among the more than 1,000 Highlanders who turned their tassels after earning bachelor's degrees at Spring Commencement on Saturday, May 2. Beginning with the fall 2026 semester, Boyce will begin studying for a master’s degree in Radford’s industrial/organizational psychology program.

“I really want to help people be their best,” she said with her usual effervescent smile.  

That proclamation is a giant leap forward for Boyce, who admittedly suffered from social anxiety when she applied for college. It didn’t help her confidence when she wasn’t immediately admitted to Radford. Boyce did, however, begin her higher education journey as a Highlander through the university’s Bridge program.

Let’s explain.

In the fall of 2020, Radford partnered with nearby New River Community College (NRCC) in Dublin, Virginia, to develop the Bridge program, an alternative transfer path between the two institutions. The initiative gave students who had applied to Radford but fell just outside the university’s admissions requirements an opportunity to attend NRCC for their freshman year and then transfer to Radford starting with their sophomore year. Bridge students attending NRCC lived on the Radford campus in a designated residence hall.

“At first, it felt like I wasn't good enough to get in, and I felt a little discouraged,” Boyce recalled. “And then after a while, I was, like, ‘OK, I feel like this was very much necessary.’ I do feel like I wouldn't have grown as much as I did if I didn't participate in the Bridge program.”

It wasn’t easy in the beginning. Boyce’s schedule included jumping out of bed early and running to catch a bus to NRCC two hours before classes began because her course schedule didn’t always mesh with the public transportation itinerary. And sometimes, when Boyce’s day was over at NRCC, she would wait around for an hour to catch the bus back to Radford.

Boyce made many friends and connections throughout her Bridge program journey. And once she fully arrived on the Radford campus as a student, she found her place here, partly through mentoring other Bridge program students and working as their resident advisor in Ingles Hall, where Bridge students lived.

“That was a little difficult to navigate early on,” she admitted, “but that experience helped me learn to be a leader.”

It was just the beginning of Boyce’s ever-expanding leadership toolbox. In fact, in her three full years on the university campus, you could say the once-shy first-generation college student turned her leadership skills up to 11.

“Yes,” she confirmed, again with a smile. “I have held 11 leadership positions at Radford.”

Spanning both campus and work-based leadership experiences, Boyce also completed a local internship with NRV CARES, a child abuse prevention agency.

Her leadership journey extended to Radford University National Pan-Hellenic Council and the historically Black Greek-Letter Organization Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. - Tau Lambda Chapter, where she served as vice president and membership intake process coordinator. One of the greatest challenges Boyce has faced in a leadership role is serving as VP to her slightly younger sister, Janea, who was Zeta Phi Beta’s president and graduated alongside Boyce.

“Working with my younger sister is great,” Boyce said with a hint of sarcasm and laughter.

Getting involved on campus has pushed Boyce through some difficult challenges, all of which she learned to master one by one. Placing herself in rooms where she once thought she didn’t belong helped her gain confidence and realize she could take her knowledge and skills anywhere she wanted.

Boyce realized that the most, she explained, at Advocacy Day, Radford’s annual January visit to the state capital in Richmond, where students champion the university with members of the Virginia General Assembly.

 “I had never seen myself being in a room like that with folks on such a higher level, but going there and talking to people about policies, getting things done and learning how things work on a deeper level definitely pushed me to learn more and do more,” Boyce explained.

It was there, in Richmond, she said with confidence, that Radford prepared her the most.

“Radford has pushed me into many areas and spaces where I have grown professionally and learned how to be an adult with a voice,” Boyce said. “I know when it comes time for me to enter my career, I’ll be ready. Ready to work, and hopefully, ready to help others feel more comfortable in their roles.”