By Erica Singleton
The Charlotte Weekly
April 2-9, 2009 Issue
Since she was in first grade, Jenay Powell has known she wants to be a doctor.
"We're drawing pictures (in school), and other kids want to be movie stars and policemen," recalled Powell, now a Charlotte Latin School senior. "I just wanted to be a doctor. That's it."
"When I was younger, I obsessed (over) the show 'ER,' and it just kind of grew from there."
Powell is expected to be one of the Charlotte Independent Schools Athletic Association's top girls track performers this season, but over the years she has become known for her dedication to becoming a doctor.
In the seventh grade, Powell began fostering her love of medicine by doing medical research during the summers. In 2007, she spent three weeks at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Last year, she spent six weeks at Duke University.
"Last summer was a real eye-opener," said Powell. "I was (always) saying, 'Oh, I want to be a doctor,' and people would ask me why, and I'd say I really want to help people.
"That's a pretty good answer, I think, but there are thousands of jobs where you can help people. When I went to Duke last year I was doing clinical cancer research with stage 4 lung cancer patients, and I think getting to interact with the patients every day and seeing the look on their faces when you walked into the exam room really solidified for me that I'm really going to be doing what I want to do."
The research Powell did the summer after her ninth-grade year at Latin was published in a scientific journal. For a while, she thought she might stay with hard-core research, but she always felt she belonged back in the patient-doctor setting.
Powell believes helping people is what she was born to do.
"I was born premature at just 2 pounds, 2 ounces," said Powell. "Arriving three months before my due date, doctors said there was a 25 percent chance I would be mentally disabled. But by age 3, I could read a newspaper."
These days, Powell is a features editor for Latin's Hawk Eye newspaper. She's a class representative on the Student Council, president of the Diversity Club and president of the Hands on Charlotte Teen Advisory Board, which develops different projects for teens. She's also in charge of Amigos de la Biblioteca, a group that every Monday goes to the South County Regional Library to help tutor students learning English as a second language.
All this, and she still finds time to compete on the Hawks' girls track and field team.
"She's a multitalented young lady," Charlotte Latin coach Larry McNulty said. "She's really a special young lady. I think track is just one facet of her life. She's gorgeous--she could be a model. She's brilliant, she's a very competitive track athlete, she's a good teammate.
"She just has it all."
This year, Powell's helping spirit led to a leadership role on a track team that's gone through a metamorphosis.
"It's a new look; we're young," explained McNulty. "We have (lots of competitors), the kids are working hard. We don't quite have the caliber of talent we had in the past. I think the girls team has lost some sure point-getters from the state level, but we still have some firepower, and I think we're going to be OK."
Charlotte Latin's boys team suffered a major loss in Ross Cockrell, who is sitting out the season after a knee injury during football season. The Hawks' top girls sprinter from last season, undefeated Malai Walker, now competes at UNC. The girls team has changed the most.
"The strength of our (girls) team has shifted," said McNulty. "In years past, it was the hurdlers and sprinters who got all the points for us. Now, all these girls who were so successful in cross country are all running track. We have an absolutely great group of girls from 800 meters up. We're really, really strong."
Powell, who will compete in the 100- and 200-meter events, is Latin's only experienced sprinter. After being overshadowed for years by Walker, many other athletes might consider this "their time." But Powell continues to put others before herself.
"The other day, I taught a sophomore who'd never used (starting) blocks before how to (do it)," she said. "I was (in her shoes) four ears ago, and I think it's a really interesting experience to (give) back. I think she got it."
Though Powell isn't doing her research these days, she's a participant in Carolinas Medical Center's Diversity in Mentoring physician health care program, which allows her to meet with doctors to discuss different specialities.
In many ways, it's no surprise Powell also is a National Merit Scholar finalist, a National Achievement Scholar finalist, a Morehead-Cain Scholars Program recipient for UNC and a finalist for the Robertson Scholars Program at Duke.
And McNulty believes she's more than equipped to lead the Hawks on the track this season.
"She's not about herself; she's about the team," said McNulty. "This will be different for her. She's got to be the center with a bunch of young girls. She's going to be asked to show some leadership."
Powell understands and accepts the new challenge.
"My academics come first," she said. "I'm not at practice every Monday, but still I'm a leader of the team. I try to bond with the younger athletes and help them as much as I can. I'm not always there, but when I am, it's important to give 110 percent."
To view the article online, go to www.thecharlotteweekly.com.