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CNN Live Today
Interview with Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt
Aired June 03, 2002 - 10:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Growing up on the tough streets of Newark, New Jersey, three young boys decide not to become victims of their environment. They make an unspoken pact to stand by each other and fulfill a dream to become medical doctors, and return to serve their communities.
It wasn't easy, but these three middle school boys defied the odds, and they accomplished their goals. They made it through college and medical school, and now the doctors are sharing their message with others, that they can do it too. They have written a book, it is called "The Pact," three young men describe their promise and their dream, and how they made it.
And we have Dr. Sampson Davis, Dr. George Jenkins, and Dr. Rameck Hunt joining us this morning from New York. Doctors, good morning. It is a pleasure to have you with us.
DR. GEORGE JENKINS, CO-AUTHOR, "THE PACT": Hello. Thanks for having us.
KAGAN: The answer to the question, "is there a doctor in the house," yes. We have three. An incredible story. Let's go back -- as I understand it, the friendship begins for you guys in about between 7th and 9th grade.
JENKINS: Yes.
KAGAN: Who can pick up with that? Who were the two who were friends in 7th grade?
DR. SAMPSON DAVIS, CO-AUTHOR, "THE PACT": George and I met first in the 7th grade, which seemed so long ago now, back in 1985, and we were in -- the majority of our classes we had together, and right away we just bonded, you know, because we had similarities that we noticed in each other. And on top of that, we both liked to do our work, so...
KAGAN: You mean, you guys were in honor classes, you had already been picked as special kids, that were bright and motivated, and you had a head start in that way.
And then, George -- Dr. Jenkins, I understand you were the one -- you had a vision early that you wanted to be a dentist. JENKINS: Right. I received orthodontic treatment at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Dental School, and I guess I was a curious little kid, and the resident who was giving me my treatment, he must have noticed that curiosity. He asked me a lot of questions, gave me a lot of information on the teeth, and a lot of the instruments and tools that he was using, so that sort of sparked an interest.
From that day forth, I was saying I wanted to be a dentist, but I really didn't know what that meant until the program was presented at a career day at University High School.
KAGAN: And even just your story alone would be inspirational, that you went and achieved your dream. But then how do you suck your two buddies into this dream as well, how does that come up?
JENKINS: We were always friends anyway. We -- we noticed that in our community, the young people, they either -- they either a nerd for the most part, and they don't have any fun, or they have too much fun, where they don't get their work done. And we represented a balance between that, and I noticed that in those two guys as well. So, I knew that it would be beneficial for me to surround myself with guys that are similar to myself. I knew it would foster this dream that I had of becoming a dentist a lot -- much better.
KAGAN: So let's bring Dr. Hunt and Dr. Davis in here, back before -- you were pre-doctors, when you buddy George comes up with this idea, what did you think? Where you all gung-ho from the start, or were you like, Is he nuts?
DR. RAMECK HUNT, CO-AUTHOR, "THE PACT": Initially. Initially, we -- I was a little hesitant, because I wanted to go down to Howard University to be with -- actually, two other friends, because I wanted to go down there, and then George was talking to me and saying, No, you really should come up here with us. And do -- do this, and be a doctor. So, that's what happened. He kind of talked to us, made sure we got our application in, and made sure we made it to the interview, and things like that, and it started from there.
KAGAN: And Dr. Davis, let me bring you in here. Now, right now, we can pat you guys on the back, and enjoy the fruits of all your labor, but I would imagine getting through college and then medical school had its challenges.
DAVIS: Yes. I mean, life is a challenge itself. There is -- I used to listen to some of my friends who say, Wow, I wish all my problems come on Monday so I can enjoy the rest of the week, but life doesn't work that way. Every day, you are sort of tossed a new challenge that you have to overcome.
And the three of us -- the neat thing with the three of us is that we believed in each other. I knew that Rameck had my back, and that George had my back, and they would stand with me in any type of dilemma. So, we faced those challenges together, and we proceeded throughout college and proceeded throughout medical school. And, you know, believe me, med school is probably one of the roughest challenges that you can ever face, but at the same time, when you have a good support system, like the three of us had, you can overcome all.
KAGAN: And one other thing I really wanted to point out about your story that people might not realize. Incredible that you saw a dream through, but not only that, you have gone back to your community, not only to serve that community, but to inspire other young people, and be the kind of role model -- role models that you guys didn't have when you were growing up. Why was that important for you to do? You know, just go cash it in, go make a lot of money like other doctors out there.
JENKINS: I think that we realized that there was -- every obstacle that we encountered, when we got out -- when we graduated, we remembered those obstacles, and we decided to sort of form an organization that would help smooth some of those obstacles out for young people behind us. We just knew that this role -- it was tough, but it could have been a lot easier if there were small things in place. So, we wanted to kind of get out here, and try to see if we can do something about some of those small problems.
KAGAN: Well, you guys are an inspirational group. Congratulations on your success, and even more so on giving back to the community where you grew up. Want to say thank you to Dr. Sampson Davis, Dr. Rameck Hunt, and Dr. George Jenkins. You can learn more about their story in their book, "The Pact," also on-line, threedoctorsfoundation.org.
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