Her grandmother’s death after her second heart surgery, when Drayton was 11 years old, inspired Drayton to pursue a medical career.

Today, she is a graduate of the Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine headed to a general surgery residency at the University of Connecticut.

She served two years as director of Student Mentors for Minorities in Medicine, worked in the College of Medicine’s summer prep program for minority and rural students seeking medical school admission and volunteered at local churches, schools and health clinics.

Another time when Drayton stopped in, Singleton was talking to a prospective student seeking advice for admission.

Singleton asked Drayton to offer advice from her perspective, and Drayton immediately dropped what she was doing and printed an entire study plan for the MCAT, the notoriously difficult medical school admissions test.