Theresa Ann Taylor

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“I transferred so that I may continue my chosen path of becoming a social worker. I want to devote the remainder of my life to the service of others. I want to empower, and advocate for disadvantaged and underrepresented populations; the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the addicted, the abused, the neglected, and the forgotten.”

  • Program: 2011 Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Recipient
  • Resides: Albany, NY
  • Hometown: Saratoga Springs, NY
  • Age: 51

Biography

Profile: Fifty.  It’s just a number to Theresa Taylor.  Theresa, a non-traditional student, had her 50th birthday just a few days before graduating with honors from Schenectady County Community College near her hometown in Upstate New York.  It’s a great time for Theresa, but that wasn’t always the case. Theresa was facing some difficult challenges, but she began attending a program called Project Hope and Power, where she kept a dream journal.  “I wrote about my dream of going to college.  I realized that fulfilling my dream meant taking action, so I applied to Schenectady County Community College and was accepted.   I took five online classes my first semester, with the hopes of making the Dean's List.  I had been out of school for nearly 30 years.  Instead, that semester, I made the President's List with a 3.80 GPA.”  For some people, life begins at 50.  Theresa Taylor is one of those people.

Inspiration:  The two people who have influenced Theresa the most are her mentors and friends, Martha Asselin, Vice President of Student Affairs at Schenectady County Community College, and Amanda Smith- Lucier, SCCC Student Government Association President.  “They are women of integrity, leadership, compassion, knowledge, passion, purpose, and drive.”

Aspiration:  Theresa’s passion is to serve “society’s forgotten tenants: the homeless, the poor, the addicted, the diseased, the elderly, the disabled, and the abused.”   As a social worker, Theresa said she will “speak out on their behalf with every fiber of my being . . . I now no longer cower; I am now strong and independent, but most of all, I am an educated woman who has learned to love her life, and in turn, to love herself.” Theresa said she will advocate for public policy that will bring about change, work with government to enact laws and policies that will protect society’s most vulnerable citizens, and lobby for legislation that will recognize the needs of the homeless.

Making a Difference: Her proudest achievement to date was when she graduated from community college in 2011. “I am proud of the fact that as a formely homeless woman, I did not become a statistic of the streets, but that I dared to dream, that I followed that dream,  and with determination and perserverance, made my dream reality. I turned my back on hunger, hopelessness, and despair, and became a confident, empowered, woman of purpose who can achieve whatever she sets her mind to.”

Accolades:  Theresa received the State University of New York 2011 Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence and was a member of the Phi Theta Kappa 2011 All-New York Academic Team.  She’s also listed in Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges,  2011.

Interesting Fact:  She does not suffer from arachnophobia.  In fact, Theresa likes spiders.

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