From the small town of Mount Airy to the beautiful campus of Western Carolina University, Allison Taylor, has pushed herself through four years, not given up, and has come out at the end soon to have a degree in business management.
WCU was the second college she visited when looking for a college to call her home for four years. The two main reasons Taylor chose to settle down here was because she felt the school was “close to home, but far enough away to grow up on her own” and because WCU “felt like home.”
Taylor is a senior this semester preparing to graduate in the upcoming May graduation. She is majoring in business management with a minor in accounting. She is currently holding a position as an intern in manufacturing.
She has spent her years on campus taking part in many clubs. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta for two years. She is a current member of the National Society of Leadership and Success.
She was involved in the Future Business Leaders of America. She is also involved with the Peer Career Mentoring Services.
What drives Taylor to be involved with all of these clubs and pursue her degree? She says it is all about “hard work.”
Taylor credits her ability to work hard to being active in sports while she was growing up. She says that playing sports “taught me to not give up and to work hard.”
She calls the college experience a “difficult journey” yet she has not let this “difficult journey” phase her. Taylor has a family that stands behind her as a chain of support and has supported her throughout her entire college journey.
Along with sports, she gives her family the credit of teaching her the ability to “work hard.” Taylor comes from a family where the choice of whether or not to go to college was never a question. College for her was always something that she knew would be in her future.
When asked why college was so important to her, she replied, “my father told me it was something that could never be taken away.”
Taylor was very thankful for the professors she has had in her four years of college, “I can’t really look back throughout my years in the college of business, and think of one professor who hasn’t prepared me and taught me what I need to know for the business world.”
Theresa Domagalski, associate professor of global management and strategy department in the college of business, had a major influence on Taylor.
“I want her to know I am thankful. I’ve never had a teacher that believed that I could do all of these things, like she has,” said Taylor.
Taylor has many goals for her life. After graduating she hopes to attain a job within Human Resources. Her future at this point is “up in the air” as to where she will end up. She loves her home town and she loves the area here. She is “open to opportunities” that may come her way.
The opportunities that WCU offers have been her favorite part of school here. Taylor is “ready to go” thanks to the classes that she has taken that have “prepared her for what’s to come.” Her long term goals include going back to school at some point to pursue her masters degree, “hopefully here at Western Carolina University.”
She is thankful for everything that she has been taught during her time in the under graduate program and she looks forward to learning more through a graduate program.
She knows it will not be easy, saying, “It will take a lot of hard work to get there, but I know I can do it.”
When she is settled down wherever she ends up at her main goal is to “make a difference.” She is looking forward to the day when she can be involved in the community and “give back.” She credits her home community and her college community for giving her so much and hopes to give back to them one day.
Taylor hopes to accomplish this by volunteering for different charities and raising awareness for difference causes.
One specific cause she is very interested in helping out with is “Relay For Life.” She believes that although this type of involvement is “a lot of work, it can bring a community together.”
She wants to help out with this cause because she believes it can “touch anyone and so many people have been effected by cancer.” Other types of things she would like to be involved in include fundraising events for local schools and families.
Taylor would like to leave some advice for the current students and any incoming students here at WCU.
She said, “Have fun and take advantage of the opportunities thrown your way, because those opportunities are what shape you and prepare you for your future. These opportunities can make your college life memorable.”
Taylor went on to talk about the many friendships she has made here on campus that she feels, will follow her into her future outside of college.
She believes that many of the friends she has made from her business classes will “not only be friends, but business connections. Those business connections can help you later as you begin your career outside of college.”
