Parkersburg South High School senior Harmony Watkins (second from the right) was part of a recent student effort to collect money for Latrobe Street Mission at a high school football game. Pictured are (l-r) Kathryn Nestor, her daughter Olive, Audrey Raffa, Kyrstin Boso, Riley Kerns, Adam Sams, Watkins and Levi Watkins. (Photo submitted)

PARKERSBURG – Twirling a baton requires dedication, focus and coordination.

That is the approach Harmony Watkins takes to life as she is already on a path to have a career in medicine.

The 18-year-old senior at Parkersburg South High School has been the featured twirler for the marching band all four years she was in high school.

“I have been a twirler since I was 5-years-old,” Watkins said. “I have been doing it for a long time.

“My sister twirled with me my freshman year of high school. That was just a fun experience. I stuck with it.”

Parkersburg South High School senior Harmony Watkins posing with her West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission Female Band High School Academic Achievement award. Watkins is a percussionist in the South Symphonic Band. (Photo submitted)

She recently auditioned at Marshall University as one of the Feature Twirlers and made the team and will be doing it as part of her freshman year this fall.

“I am really excited about that,” Watkins said. “I worked for a couple of months everyday.

“I would get up before school, go practice and be at school all day and I would twirl after school. If you ever met a twirler if they are outside they want to have a baton with them.”

It was a long couple of months practicing, but she really wanted to be prepared for her tryouts which were a few weeks ago.

“I had to perform a routine and do an interview to try to earn a spot as a Featured Twirler which is a little different than a majorette,” she said. “Featured Twirlers are involved in doing tricks and are more out on the field.”

Parkersburg South High School senior Harmony Watkins after being selected as one of the Marshall University’s Feature Twirlers for this coming fall semester. She was a twirler for the South Marching band for the past four years. (Photo submitted)

She was picked as the only freshman Featured Twirler and has already started practicing with the group.

“I am really excited,” she said. “It is part of the Marching Thunder Marching Band.

“I will perform at football games and during the Thunder Walk to the stadium and during some of the basketball games. It is really exciting to be able to have this opportunity.

Watkins has served on South’s student council, Freshman class president, Sophomore class vice-president. This year she was the president of the South Chapter of the National Honor Society after serving as the Junior class representative last year.

As part of those groups, she participated in a Teacher Appreciation Week as part of National Honor Society. She has also been involved in planning school events as part of Student Council, such as Spirit Week and more. She has been involved in putting together raffles and collecting donations from area businesses as well as participated in a lot of fundraisers and community events.

Parkersburg South High School senior Harmony Watkins has been the featured twirler for the Parkersburg South Marching Band all four years she was in high school. She will be a part of the Marshall University Feature Twirlers this fall. (Photo submitted)

They have done work to benefit House to Home, the Latrobe Street Mission, helped with Letters to Santa at Christmas, involved in writing letters to local veterans and more.

She has even encouraged her classmates to dress up on special days.

“We try to bring joy around the community and spread as much happiness as we can,” Watkins said.

Watkins is a percussionist in the South Symphonic Band, playing drums and the zylaphone.

She works part-time as a hostess at the restaurant at the Blennerhassett Hotel in Parkersburg.

Parkersburg South High School senior Harmony Watkins is planning to attend Marshall University to study pre-med coursework to prepare for medical school to become a doctor. (Photo submitted)

Watkins has also been working in school with the goal of going to medical school to become a physician. She is planning to do pre-med coursework in college at Marshall.

“I want to focus on all of the different science classes and doing some research,” she said. “I want to be a part of the healthcare field. I am getting ready for that.”

She is not sure what kind of medical specialty she’ll eventually want to do.

“Both my parents have been in the healthcare field,” she said of her folks Michele and Jeremy Watkins with her mother working as the school nurse for South and her father working as a Nurse Anesthetist at the Southeastern Medical Center in Cambridge, Ohio.

“That has really been an inspiration and I have loved to see them in their environments,” Watkins said. “I do know I want to try and be a physician and work in a hospital and be able to help others.”

Parkersburg South High School senior Harmony Watkins in hospital scrubs as she shadows her father Jeremy, a Nurse Anesthetist at the Southeastern Medical Center in Cambridge, Ohio. Watkins is interested in studying medicine and becoming a medical doctor. (Photo submitted)

She has shadowed her father at his workplace and has already begun the work in taking science classes to prepare for a pre-med curriculum.

This school year Watkins has taken a number of college level courses, including a lot of duel credit and honor courses. She has also taken a lot of science courses during her time in high school.

“That is how I really found my love for the medical field,” she said. “I am very dedicated to school. I am very focused on my education.”

Watkins took a duel-credit human anatomy course last year.

“I just fell in love with the human body and realized that is what I wanted to study,” she said. “This year, I got to take the second part of that course, the more advanced level.

“I have always tried to take the higher-level courses to be better prepared.”

Even with all of her school work, she still makes time to spend with her family, including her parents, older sister Macie who is now in college, younger brother Levi and her grandparents Donna and Eugene Parsons.

“I love spending time with them,” she said.

Watkins has a love of reading, having read over 30 books since last August. Her favorite is the “Throne of Glass” series by Sarah J. Maas, her favorite author.

Whether it is twirling or being involved in different activities at school, Watkins has learned the importance of practice, dedication and a desire to be involved with others.

“My extracurricular activities and time at South have given me the chance to learn how to a be a leader and how to work hard to reach my goals,” she said. “I think these skill sets will help me be successful in the medical field.”

Contact Brett Dunlap at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com

Parkersburg South High School senior Harmony Watkins is planning to become a doctor as she will begin attending classes at Marshall University this fall. (Photo submitted)