Maybe it was watching the television drama “ER” as a child that sparked Jenay Powell’s interest in medicine. Maybe it was the example set by her father John, a pharmacologist and mother Rhonda, a registered nurse.

Jenay Powell

Regardless, The Post’s Senior of the Year is on her way.

Powell, a senior at Charlotte Latin School, balances her drive for academic excellence with community and extracurricular activity. But her professional aspiration is to become a doctor – dermatologist, to be exact.
“It’s somewhat what I always wanted to do,” she said. “That was my obsession. There was never anything else. Some kids wanted to be a movie star. I wanted to be a doctor.”

To reach that goal, Powell, 17, has been an academic powerhouse at Latin, scoring all A’s over the last four years. She has a 6.0 grade point average in a course load that includes advanced placement physics, English literature and calculus. Powell also enjoys the challenges of mastering U.S. government, newspapering and Spanish.
“I love learning because they’re all important to me,” she said. “I like to be well-rounded. Even when I become a doctor, I don’t want to be one-dimensional.”
That’s not likely to happen, said Kathy Kraus, director of college counseling at Latin:

“She’s an extraordinary student. She is one of the top seniors at Latin. She not only has academically thrived, she is a real leader in the community. She’s very focused on becoming a doctor and is well on the way to becoming one.”

Powell credits her faith and the support of family and friends for her success. Born three months premature and weighing 2 pounds, 6 ounces, she’s blossomed with help at home as well as the academic community.

“Everything you do, you’ve got to put God first,” she said. “That’s where it all starts. My parents have always been there for me and my friends are very supportive. It’s really cool to have friends you can call up at 12:30 in the morning (to talk academics.)”

Powell’s resume is packed with academic and research milestones: National Merit semifinalist; National Achievement semifinalist, and various honor societies. She did research at Duke University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and Temple University’s Minority Access to Research Careers/Physician-Scientist Training Program and was paired with an emergency medicine physician at Carolinas Medical Center’s healthcare mentoring program.

Powell’s active on campus, too. She’s won three N.C. independent schools championships with Latin’s track and field squad and is a captain on this year’s team. She’s a student council representative, member of the Spanish Club and president of the Diversity Club. Her community activities include volunteering with Hands On Charlotte and the YMCA as well as president of Amigos de la Biblioteca, Latin’s Amigos chapter that helps Hispanic kids learn English.

“She’s been published in research magazines, she’s an incredibly poised young lady,” Kraus said. “She’s more mature than I am, which I think says more about her than me.”

Powell has her choice of scholarships to prestigious universities. She earned full scholarships to Hampton and Howard universities and a Morehead-Cain scholarship at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her top three, however are Duke, Harvard and Yale, and she plans to major in psychology or Spanish before graduate school.

“You learn all the science you need to be a doctor, so I look forward to doing something else (as an undergraduate),” she said.
Powell was scheduled to visit all three last month, but was in no hurry to decide.

“After I visit, I’ll know for sure,” she said. I like to explore all my options.”
Says Kraus: It’s not a question of whether she’ll succeed in college. It’s a matter of how many awards she’ll win.”

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