Alumni Profiles
Jenelle Hall ’05
“Crossroads creates experiences to help you think outside the box. These thought processes continue to shape my approach to patient care.”
When Jenelle Hall transferred to Crossroads School her sophomore year, she was looking for a science program that could challenge her with advanced classwork and help her hone her analytical skills. She found that and much more—she found mystery and a way to decode it.
Senior Mysteries was, and still is, part of Crossroads’ singular Life Skills program. It helps students make the passage from adolescence to adulthood and from high school to college. “Its impact remains with me,” Jenelle says.
“Crossroads creates experiences to help you think outside the box, rather than just memorize facts or pass standardized tests. These experiences and thought processes continue to shape my approach to patient care,” adds Jenelle, who is a clinical pharmacist within Duke University Health System in North Carolina.
She earned her bachelor’s in neuroscience and behavioral biology at Emory University, followed by a doctorate in pharmacy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Now, within the Duke Departments of Neurology and Rheumatology, she divides her time between two clinics: multiple sclerosis/neuroimmunology and rheumatology.
Jenelle’s favorite course at Crossroads was chemistry, a logical steppingstone to her career choice. But she also enjoyed the School’s art program and served as yearbook editor. “Getting involved in that activity and others helped me navigate the leadership space early on,” she says.
Community service at Crossroads brought her another important insight. She volunteered at a homeless shelter in Santa Monica and at the Venice Free Clinic, where she enjoyed working one-on-one with patients. At Duke, she serves on a multidisciplinary team in the Rheumatology Clinic to address medication adherence and reduce emergency room usage by lupus patients. “It demonstrates how pharmacists can have an impact on patient care,” says Jenelle, “and provide positive outcomes alongside other team members.”
Even though she arrived at Crossroads in 10th grade, Jenelle found the atmosphere immediately welcoming. “It’s a very inclusive community,” she says, “and that’s what it really is—a community. Most students do not experience such an enriching environment in high school.”
