"My mom was an absolutely incredible person," Powell said. "She battled through it day-in and day-out and never once complained."
Around the same time her cancer was discovered, Lorraine was riding in the car with her son near their hometown of Marietta, Ga., when she noticed an advertisement for a rowing club.
"She thought it was something I might be interested in, because I had already played almost every sport imaginable," Powell said.
He decided to give the sport a try and quickly found it was the one he wanted to stick with.
Racing for St. Andrew Rowing Club throughout high school, Powell was recruited by Saint Joseph's. His team has won back-to-back bronze medals in the lightweight eights at the Dad Vail, considered by many teams to be the biggest race of the season.
"There's just thousands and thousands of people lining the shore," Powell said of the competition. "It's like a big festival."
He had been competing on the varsity eight this spring before he had to make the difficult decision to leave his team. Powell knew he needed to be at his mother's side as her final weeks approached.
"She told me at the end that I had to go back to school and finish up. I went back the morning after the funeral," Powell said.
He did not go back alone.
"There were, like, 15 guys on the team who drove all the way down to Atlanta from Philadelphia after my mom passed," Powell said. "They skipped school and practice to come support me."
Since returning to campus, Powell has been on a mission. The senior political science major has had to work twice as hard in the classroom to get back on track to graduate. He's also worked twice as hard on the water.
