Seawolf Opportunities Scholarship Profile: Lauren Taylor

It took Lauren Taylor awhile to find the right path. Now that she has, she's on the fast track to success.

Taylor dropped out of high school and got pregnant with her son, who's now eight years old. She moved from her hometown of Eagle River, Alaska to California, where she lived for a short time. The family she stayed with insisted that she go to college in order to live with them. "They made it very clear that education is the only way to go anywhere in life," Taylor said. "It turned my life around. I didn't think college was in my future; I thought you had to go straight out of high school."

While in California, she spent her free time volunteering at a substance abuse treatment center to help people turn their lives around. "I wanted to help others get out of the gutter," she said.

After a few years in California, Taylor moved back to Alaska to be with her son. The college classes she took in California inspired her to enroll in a class at UAA; soon after she decided to continue full time. Since she was a teenager, Taylor has had an interest in the nursing field. "My uncle told me that nurses can pretty much name their price," she said. But her main interest is helping people. "I can't think of any other profession that I'd rather go into. I know that this is the career for me because I'm so driven to do well."

Taylor was recently accepted into the UAA School of Nursing and will start the program in Fall 2010. With her nursing prerequisites out of the way, she's now considering a minor in nutrition.

When she received news that she'd been chosen for the scholarship, she felt very honored. The money that she saves from this scholarship will go toward a college savings account for her son.

Taylor married her sweetheart in the summer of 2009 and honeymooned in the Bahamas. Her husband is a psychology student at UAA, and they often study together or meet on campus for lunch.

She believes that travel and education are two of the best things someone can do for themselves. With a backpack trek through Spain, Belize and Guatemala checked off her list, and an Eastern European adventure planned for next summer, Taylor hopes to one day become a traveling nurse to see more of the globe. "I want to see the world and get paid to do it, and be helpful at the same time," said Taylor.

Taylor is considering going to work with Doctors Without Borders to travel to third-world countries, specifically Africa, to provide health care to those in need. "There are all kinds of people that are dying from curable, preventable diseases," Taylor said. "I want to make a difference, and I want to show my son that he can make a difference someday, too."

Besides being a busy wife, mother and college student, Taylor continues to volunteer her extra time to help addicts and alcoholics on their road to recovery. Staying physically fit is also important to Taylor. She's currently taking a Jiu Jitsu mixed martial arts class and hopes to someday compete in a tournament.

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The Seawolf Opportunity Scholarship is the result of the generous anonymous $7M gift that UAA received in the spring of 2009. Conditions of the gift stated that the majority of the money was to be used for student scholarships, particularly benefiting women and minorities. The $6M designated for scholarships enabled UAA to establish an endowment to provide needs-based scholarships to students.

This new needs-based scholarship will be awarded incrementally, up to four years, for students working toward an associate's or baccalaureate degree from UAA. This special feature is designed to provide an incentive and reward to students who persist in their studies toward a degree. Recipients of the Seawolf Opportunity Scholarship will receive money for tuition and housing or childcare each year -- all very important for student success.

This donation has already had a significant impact on the lives of UAA's students; 50 students have been awarded this special scholarship for the 2009-10 academic year. This is the story of one of our outstanding scholarship recipients.