Easton grad headed to Cambridge to study immunology | Turkeys and Trophies
Updated Jan 16, 2021;
Posted Jan 16, 2021
A dryanna Jenkins of Easton has won a scholarship to study immunology at the University of Cambridge. Courtesy Times Eye Photography
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TROPHIES
When she was a freshman at Easton Area High School, A’dryanna Jenkins was failing classes and having trouble getting to school because she was caring for her siblings and her mother at home. Her father had been murdered in 2007 and she would lose her mother after her sophomore year. She ended up at the Easton Area Academy, the district’s former program for at-risk students. What happened after that is a credit to Jenkins and those in the district who helped her get her life back on track. She went on to study at Penn State University, where she’s scheduled to receive a degree in immunology this spring, and spent a summer studying biomedicine at the Yale University School of Medicine. She has earned a
She lost both her parents tragically. Yet this Easton grad is studying to be a cancer researcher.
Updated Jan 10, 2021;
Posted Jan 09, 2021
A dryanna Jenkins of Easton won a scholarship to study immunology at the University of Cambridge. She lost both of her parents by the time she was 16.Courtesy Times Eye Photography
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A’dryanna Jenkins’ improbable path from South Side Easton to Marshall Scholar at the University of Cambridge seemed impossible just seven years ago.
She failed her freshman year at Easton Area High School and was sent to Easton Area Academy to get back on track.
The 21-year-old biomedical student frequently missed school because she was trying to meet the needs of her four siblings and her mother. Her father wasn’t available to help. He was murdered by his girlfriend in Bethlehem in 2007.
IMAGE: Provided
Jenkins had an indirect path to Penn State and first started her education at West Chester University. She then transferred to Penn State Lehigh Valley and later changed campuses to University Park. The first-generation college student distinguished herself academically and socially, earning awards for her consistently high GPA, becoming a Schreyer Scholar and participating in the BioMed Amgen Scholars Program at Yale University. Her contributions to improving the atmosphere of diversity and inclusion at Penn State include helping to implement anti-racist training into orientation programming for incoming honors students.
Penn State President Eric Barron praised Jenkins for both her academic achievements and contributions to campus culture.