Impact Of A Scholarship: Micha Powell

Micha Powell may have been born with running in her blood, but track was not what she initially gravitated toward.

Instead, the daughter of three-time Canadian Olympian runner Rosaline Edeh and the world record holder in the long jump Michael Powell found herself drawn to tennis and Serena Williams.

"She was one of those people who instilled in me that you could be fierce and feminine and powerful," Powell said of Williams. "You don't have to fit this one box of what an athlete is supposed to be and I've carried that with me throughout my entire athletic career." 

By the age of 17, Powell, who was raised in Montreal, Quebec, by her mother and grandmother, was finally ready to run competitively. 

"I'm glad I waited and did that because I got to learn more about who I was and do it because I wanted to," Powell said. "Just because my mom is a three-time Olympian and my dad is a world record holder for the US, there wasn't this sense that I had to do it because they did."

Powell participated in cross country in the fall of 2012 but didn't take off until the following spring when she got into the shorter sprints. In the 400 meters, the event that eventually became Powell's calling card, she went from a one-minute time to around 55 seconds in months. 

That was when colleges started calling, and Maryland was at the top of the list. 

Powell met some of the Terp coaches in Toronto and sparked an instant connection, ultimately committing without ever seeing the campus.

"There was just this energy I could feel," Powell said. "It was an emerging program with a lot of growth there and I could see myself adding to that growth. It was a lot of self-confidence, some hope, and then once I got to see the actual campus I was just glad I made the choice." 

Going to college in the United States was always very important for Powell, and Maryland precisely fit what she was looking for in a school.

"I was very green to the sport," Powell said. "I didn't come in with as many titles as my other teammates. However, I knew I wanted to go to school in the states because my dad is American and my mom went to school at Rice University so I knew I wanted to continue that legacy of higher education."

"I also just wanted a really competitive track & field experience," she added. "In Canada, there's not as many people. When you train and compete against the best in the US, there's nothing like it. Having to step up and reach that caliber really made me realize my limitless potential in the sport."

Powell shined on the track once she began running for Maryland. She still holds the program record in the indoor and outdoor 400 Meters with times of 52.56 and 51.97, respectively. The next closest Terp is at 53.86 indoors and 53.16 outdoors.

"(The records) are something that I really take pride in because I was so young to the sport. I was really just running for the sake of running at that point."

Powell was so successful that by 2016 she was not only filling the Maryland record book but was also competing on the Canadian Olympic team. Fortunately, her professors and counselors accommodated Powell's busy schedule and were invested in her success in and out of the classroom. 

Balancing all her different responsibilities was no small feat, but it was much easier, thanks to her scholarship. 

"I didn't have to worry about choosing between groceries and my books," Powell said. "That's a reality for so many people and I'm so grateful every day that I was able to focus on my studies and my athletics."

Powell enjoyed her experiences off the track just as much, specifically everything that came with being a Maryland student-athlete. However, Powell didn't confine herself to the track & field bubble; she had close friends on the tennis team and went to as many football games as possible.

"I think the overall student-athlete experience was remarkable," Powell said. "I feel like you can't compare that to many things in your life. Going to class, going to practice, and then also knowing I had a championship coming up, and then at the same time supporting other athletes, there's nothing like it. You just feel like there's a bigger community you're a part of."

She also immensely enjoyed her schoolwork. Though she was a journalism major in the Philip Merrill School of Journalism, Powell was able to take courses in Italian and African-American studies that left a lasting impact on her. 

With the help of the journalism school, she also obtained an internship at ESPN, where she documented her training schedule and showcased what it was like to travel around the world and compete for her country. 

"I think Maryland did a really good job making me push myself into places that might have been uncomfortable, but I knew I always had the support to know that I could do that," Powell said. "I think that prepared me for the constantly changing workforce and the track environment that is here now in 2022. They prepared me to have a lot of responsibilities, but also taking ownership of them and doing a better job of setting boundaries."

Powell quite literally did not slow down after graduating from Maryland.

She moved to Toronto and started focusing on the Canadian National Team full-time. Her hard work paid off in the biggest of ways on Aug. 7 at the Commonwealth Games 2022 when her 4x400 meter relay team finished first, joining the select group of individuals who can claim to be gold medalists.

"I think when it really hit me that I was a Gold medalist was when we were up on the podium, and they started playing our Canadian national anthem," Powell said. "Then it was like, "Woah, this is real.' And it made me realize it was worth all that effort. Being out there on the world stage, hearing the roar of the crowd, it was exhilarating. I'm never going to forget that race."

Powell isn't fully satisfied yet and is currently training for the 2023 World Championships and, of course, the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

The way Powell sees it, she's just now reaching the peak of her career, an added benefit of beginning her track career so late.

"I'm still growing, that's the best part of it," Powell said. "I still feel like I'm just now discovering my strengths and how to get even better and get even more out of the sport." 

"My journey wasn't straightforward," she added. "It wasn't just once I made the Olympic team that everything was on the way up. There were a lot of ups and downs, a lot of mental and physical coaching, and of course family support to get there."

Powell's non-linear path to the top inspired her to share her story and experiences. She hopes to give speeches soon to the young runners on the Olympic team about staying the course. 

Her message is a strong one. 

"For anyone who ever has doubts in themselves and feels like there isn't this constant upward trajectory in their career, give yourself that time to grow and make sure you look back at your progress and the accomplishments you made that might not seem so obvious," she said. "Have you grown as a person? Do you feel that you've pushed other people to be their best selves around you? Those are the kind of accomplishments I think we overlook and it's important to take those moments to look at the type of person you've become." 

Another thing Powell is excited about? A hopeful return to the Maryland campus and program that means so much to her. 

"I hope that the times I put down, my enthusiasm for the sport that I brought to the team, I hope that all still resonates in the program," Powell said. I look forward to coming back in person soon because it's really the place where my track career started. I really am so grateful for that opportunity, for the scholarship, for the guidance I had, for my coaches, and just the overall experience. I got to shape myself as a person at Maryland."

And as Powell takes the time to reflect on her Maryland experience, she is extra thankful for the donors that gave her the chance to live her dream. 

"The opportunities (the donors) provide for people like me who grew up with a single-mom and were always told that if you worked hard you'd achieve something, they're giving us that chance to really prove that we deserve the shot and we deserve to be at the top of our game. Having the opportunity to be at a university like Maryland where there are the facilities in place, there are the coaches and staff, the mental support, the community aspect of it, you don't always get that if you go to any other school. It's really important that they know how much it contributes to our overall growth as a person. You just feel like you really find your purpose when you start off in a setting like Maryland."