JANELL Wright who takes up a first degree scholarship to the Massachusetts-based Mount Holyoke in January insists that her longer-term goal is to become a medical doctor.

Dr Dennis Minott, head of the A-Quest study programme which provided guidance for Wright in securing the scholarship worth US$49,000 per year for four years, is not discounting her medical ambitions. But he has his own visions of her in a far different field of service to community and country. He is predicting a career in high-profile representational politics.

“She may well become a doctor,” Minott told Career & Education. “But in my view she is more likely to become a minister of government at age 26/27 than any other young person that I know, and I know a lot of very gifted young people.”

Minott’s conviction is firmly rooted in his observation of Wright’s ability to influence others while at the podium and also in small and larger group situations.

“Janell is full of charisma. Other young people may ignore her at first and then when they hear her they are transfixed… If you see her in front of a crowd you will see what I mean. You get a picture of Norman Manley’s mind and Busta’s (Sir Alexander Bustamante) charisma combined,” gushed Minott.

Allied to her attractive and strong personality is a well developed sense of civic responsibility, claimed Minott.

“She has the heart of a servant, but with the bright mind of a leader,” he said.

Her leadership qualities provided rich dividends for Wright at high school. She graduated from St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) in 2007 as head girl and amazingly on opting to move to Black River High for Sixth Form also finished up as head girl.

Wright’s mother, Veta McOgg, says her daughter’s leadership roles at the two high schools underline her character.

“She is a natural leader and a very determined person,” said McOgg.

Also, she claims her daughter thrives most when the pressure is greatest.

“She likes to work under pressure, that’s when you see her at her best; she loves pressure,” said the proud mother, who spoke to Career & Education by telephone from her home at Spice Grove just east of Black River.

Wright credits a great love for the stage and the performing arts dating back to infancy for her capacity to lead and influence others.

“My experiences on the stage have helped me to be bold and to always carry out leadership tasks,” she explained.

Born August 7, 1990, Wright breezed through infant and primary school at Black River before entering STETHS at Santa Cruz – following the footsteps of an older sister. She left STETHS with seven CXCs and had equally satisfying results at the CAPE level at Black River High.

Proud though she is with her academic record to date, Wright seems especially delighted with her record as a performing artist in speech, song and drama.

“I love the stage,” she explained.

At four years old, she was a participant in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission festival of the performing arts and since then has won numerous cultural prizes, including the 2008 Bread Basket award for the best public speaker in St Elizabeth.

More recently she was among three students from Black River High selected to perform in Hollywood at the World Championships of the Performing Arts – an invitation they were unable to accept.

Meanwhile, Wright believes her background makes her ideally suited for Mount Holyoke, which is a liberal arts college for women.

“It (Mount Holyoke) has the advantage of touching on many subject areas, including the performing arts… It allows you to broaden your scope…” she said.

However, Wright insists that she will not be distracted from her goal of moving on to medical school.

That drive to become a doctor was born of the experience of personal tragedy.

“My uncle died three years ago from a heart attack. He got married on the Saturday and died Monday and from that time I decided I wanted to be a cardiologist. I feel that’s a good way to help other people and I want to have an impact on the world in terms of helping people,” she said.

As Wright prepares to take on her academic scholarship at Mount Holyoke, she accepts that the road ahead will be tough and even painful, but claims she is well prepared.

“I am a very, very determined person… anything I want I go after it,” she declared.

Her mother laughingly agrees: “I remember when Janell said she wanted to go overseas to study, I said ‘you crazy, you can’t go overseas, that’s for rich people’ and she said ‘you wait and see, I am going’. I tell you that girl is going places, nobody is going to stand in her way.”