Prep Sports: Mercer's Grant, Boyle's Howell named Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year

She played both soccer and tennis at Mercer and was part of regional championship teams in tennis even though she spent so much time on other activities that she never concentrated on sports the way some athletes do.
“I’ll never have any regrets about my high school sports career,” Grant said. “I went through everything I could and gave it my all. I may have gotten to play more or made an extra round in state (in tennis) if I had concentrated more on sports, but I would not trade that for all the other things I got to do.
“I grew up with two siblings who were 10 years older, and they always played sports. It was drilled into my head to play sports. When school got overwhelming, sports were always there to motivate me. When sports were overwhelming, I always could fall back on my school work. It worked out well.”
She has been named a Brown Fellows Scholar at Louisville, which means she is guaranteed entrance to medical school.
“I was always going to Kentucky, and then I went to GSP (Governor’s Scholars Program) at Bellarmine, got introduced to Louisville and it just felt right. I interviewed for the Brown Fellows Scholarship and it was like all 13 years of work I had done paid off like it was meant to be,” Grant said.
She gets to spend two weeks in Italy visiting six cities to “broaden her horizons” this summer. After that, she gets $5,000 to study abroad each summer as well as a $3,000 stipend each academic year in addition to her full scholarship.
Grant has been actively involved in Family, Career and Community Leaders of America and became the first FCCLA national officer from Kentucky when she was elected vice president of finance for the 2009-10 school year. She has also been a national FCCLA board of director member the last three years.
“I actually missed 71 days of classes that year I was in a national office. I was taking three AP (advanced placement) classes, trying to play tennis and soccer and traveling so much. It took a lot of time management,” she said. “A lot of times, I could not go to Friday night basketball games because I had calculus homework to do. It seemed terrible, but I grew up a lot. I got to have a lot of experiences most teenagers, and even adults, don’t get. I traveled all over the country speaking to youth conferences. I went to Washington, D.C., California and Chicago.”
She bonded so well with other officers and three actually came to her high school graduation.
“It really impacted my life, and I hope maybe I inspired a few people along the way,” Grant said.
She has won numerous other academic and community awards and was active in Fellowship of Christian Athletes, National Honor Society , Beta Club, Key Club, Student Council, Pep Club and 4-H. She’s involved in St. Andrews Catholic Church youth group and parish council.
Her community service has included being a Children’s Miracle Network national spokesperson as well as working with Feed the Children, Relay for Life, James B. Haggin Memorial Hospital, Martin Luther King Day Activities, Halloween on Main Street, Lexington Soup Kitchen/Homeless Shelter, Mercer County Snack Pack Program, Mercer County Fall Festival, Alzheimer’s Association, Queens for Troops, Kentucky Organ Donor and Affiliates, Angel Tree Program, Unite to Read, Mercer County Public Library, Mercer County Senior Citizen’s Center, Danville Centre for Health and Rehabilitation, Central Kentucky Cancer Camps, Toys for Tots, Harrodsburg Health Care Center, Pennies for Patients and Bottles of Blessings.
She says despite her numerous activities, she still had a social life.
“Or at least I would like to think I did,” Grant said. “I got to go out and do a lot of stuff. Most of my friends were from my sports teams or clubs, so that worked out well.”
She says she’ll probably always be most proud of being the first Kentucky female to hold a national office in FCCLA.
“I am also so proud of being a Governor’s Scholar. I am probably the No. 1 advocate for it. You can’t put a price on that experience,” she said. “Winning that last regional tennis championship was also a very proud moment.”
She plans to play intramural sports at Louisville all she can.
“But it will be different not being a Titan. It has been bittersweet all year knowing this was my last time to play sports on a true team,” Grant said. “I have played with a lot of these people since we were 3 or 4 years old. I will miss that.”
However, she knows the sacrifice for her career will be worthwhile. Since her mom is a nurse, she says she has watched surgery since she was 9 years old.
“I have worked with the Children’s Miracle Network a lot, and I have seen the impact surgeons have on so many lives, and that inspired me,” Grant said. “I hope I can have that impact and save someone’s life. That’s why I’ve wanted to be a doctor my whole life.”