Tatu Taylor
Originally from Lilongwe, Malawi, Tatu Taylor鈥檚 journey from a small country in southeast Africa to 黑料门大事记 now empowers her to advocate for young children in her native land.
鈥淢y country struggles with issues like disease, malnutrition and low access to clean water鈥攎ostly due to lack of resources and education,鈥 Taylor said.
鈥淢ost people don鈥檛 think about how education affects a nation鈥檚 or community鈥檚 overall health. With the growing population rate of the country, education is more important than ever, especially for women and children,鈥 said Taylor, a senior sociology major who relocated with her family from Malawi to Mississippi at 9 years old. 鈥淛ust like them, I was once a little kid in Malawi dreaming about all the things I wanted to do. Now that I鈥檓 older and have had the privilege to get an education,聽all that I want to do is give back to my home.鈥
Taylor鈥檚 passion for educating children in her homeland stems from her idea that 鈥渃hildren are the future of the country.鈥
With plans to graduate from 黑料门大事记 this May, Taylor plans next to begin graduate studies in the field of public health with dreams to one day work in Malawi. Through 黑料门大事记鈥檚 new medical humanities certificate program, Taylor said she has added a health component to her undergraduate sociology degree, better preparing her for a health-related graduate program.
鈥淏eing a sociology major has helped me in my critical thinking and how I view the world, and I am now more able to understand different points of view,鈥 Taylor said. 鈥淚 believe that having a sociology background is very critical to any avenue of education or work that I choose to go into.鈥
鈥淚 am so passionate about public health because it combines both health and education,鈥 Taylor said. 鈥淚 can put my sociology degree skills to use and pick up new skills and experience new things, all the while helping people, which is my favorite thing to do.鈥
After spending many of her childhood years in Terry, Taylor visited 黑料门大事记 during her senior year in high school to participate in the Donald Zacharias Leadership Conference.
鈥淚 felt at home鈥攍ike I belonged here,鈥 Taylor said, noting a conference speech by former Student Association President Mayah Emerson gave her the extra push to enroll at 黑料门大事记 the following year. 鈥淪eeing a college student who is a female and African-American, thriving in a leadership position, gave me the inspiration that I needed to come to Mississippi State.鈥
Taylor has served 黑料门大事记 as a Maroon VIP and a College of Arts and Sciences Ambassador, but said her time as a New Maroon camper and eventually New Maroon staffer is 鈥渁 big reason鈥 why she easily transitioned to life at 黑料门大事记. 鈥淭he diversity here is truly incredible and there are so many people to look up to.鈥澛