Mix adversity with perseverance, and you come up with Tiffany Wilkins.

The blend should serve this senior at Mohawk well as she considers a future in medicine. Perhaps she’ll study someday at the medical school affiliated with the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where she already has met its president and been tapped as a worthy candidate for serious consideration.

The encounter took place in April in Washington, D.C., where Wilkins was recognized as one of 100 Horatio Alger National Scholarship winners.

The $20,000 award assists high school students who have faced and overcome great obstacles in their lives.

Recipients generally have a commitment to use their college degrees in service to others.

Long-term goal for Wilkins?

Neurosurgeon.

Short-term goal?

Studying molecular biology as a pre-med major at Westminster College, where she received a $60,000 Jerb Miller Scholarship.

If there is anything bad about being Tiffany Wilkins, it could be that she doesn’t have the one person in her life with whom she’d most like to share her accomplishments — her dad.

Dr. Thomas Wilkins is five hours away in Frackville State Prison.

He won’t make Mohawk’s 50-year anniversary graduation June 6 at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, where his daughter is expected to graduate with high honors.

“Graduation and a wedding are two of the most important things in a girl’s life,” said Tiffany, who is ranked 19th out of 163 students.

But those who know Tiffany can tell you she’s way ahead of where most young people are by the time they’re reaching for their diplomas.