Terri Jenkins graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, receiving a BA in sociology. Her primary focus of study, however, was pre-medicine. Because she had aspirations of becoming a doctor since the age of 10, she spent much of her collegiate time helping others.

She became a medical research assistant as an undergrad at UM and now for the family of Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center. She currently administers neuropsychological tests and conducts health questionnaires for participants in the Religious Order Study, the Memory and Aging Project and the Minority Aging Research Study.