Meet Taylor...
Title: Miss Kingsport
Social Impact Initiative: Read to Lead: Improving the Literacy of Our Youth
Talent: Ballet en Pointe
Age: 23
Hometown: Fall Branch, Tennessee
University: East Tennessee State University Graduate Program
Taylor is a 23 year old second-year graduate student studying English at East Tennessee State University. She was awarded a Graduate Assistantship because of her scholarly achievements as an undergraduate. This award covers her tuition, and it allows her to conduct research for her mentors and teach English Composition to freshmen undergraduates. She is also the President of the Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society for the 2020-2021 academic year. She will graduate in May 2021 with her Masters’ degree. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in May 2019 with two Bachelors’ degrees in History and English. After she obtains her Masters’ she plans on getting her Ph.D in English Literature with a concentration in Medieval and Renaissance literature. With her Doctorate she plans to teach at a university level. She dreams of being a published author, both scholarly and creatively. She also dreams of making a positive impact on her students, as so many professors have done for her.
Taylor has danced at Holloway Dance School in Kingsport since she was three years old, studying classical ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, house, and theatre. She became a dance instructor in the fall of 2016, teaching 6-18 year old students ballet, tap, jazz, and contemporary. Because of this, she found her passion for teaching and assisting others in their growth as students. As a result of becoming a dance instructor, she decided to pursue a career as a college professor. Her talent is Ballet en Pointe. She has been dancing en pointe for thirteen years.
Read to Lead: Improving the Literacy of Our Youth is her social impact initiative. Her social impact initiative resonates with her because reading has always been an important part of her life. Literacy is at the forefront of her education, and it is one of her biggest passions. Her passion for reading sparked her love for writing. Not only does she want to inspire others to find the joy in reading, she wants them to find the pleasure in writing. She strives to make reading fun for all, and she loves visiting schools in her area to read to children of all ages. Not only can she show them that reading is fun at every age, but she gets to explain the importance of continuing to develop their literary skills as they get older. Her favorite pastime as Miss Kingsport is making an impression on the children at the schools she speaks at. It is her goal to spread her initiative across the state of Tennessee and continue to inspire children in her state to read.