I am Alexandria “Alex” Taylor a senior Public Health major with a minor in Psychology at the University of South Carolina. I am a non-traditional student originally from Columbia, South Carolina; and yes, I love my Soda City. My time at the university has helped me cultivate my passions of serving communities and finding design in everything. I plan to graduate in December 2021 and look forward to pursuing a dual degree program to earn my Master’s in Public Health and Master’s in Urban Planning/Design degrees. With this, I want to focus on utilizing the built environment to create and develop communities that prioritize and guide the health and well-being of youth and adolescents. But before I pursue this, I hope to change the dynamics of how students engage and interact with the university, neighboring communities, and the city by bringing my proposed course, COLA 198: Community-Centered Freshmen Engagement (still debating course titles) to life. This too is a projection of my focus to create and develop communities that foster environments for improved health and well-being.

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In pursuing Graduation with Leadership Distinction: Community Service, I created an ePortfolio that showcases my process as a non-traditional student pursuing Public Health at the university. This process, which continues, is full of experiences in and beyond the classroom that have shaped my presence in the spaces I take up. My experience working as an intern with the Office of the Mayor, City of Columbia, and the Columbia Food Policy Committee (CFPC) has allowed me to apply learned material to real world experiences. Through application of learned content beyond the classroom I have gained insight on my mindsets, values, beliefs, and behaviors. In this I have included 3 Key Insights, which are ideas I value, that have led me to personal and professional enhancement, these include: The Power of Relationships, The Power of Collaboration, and Empowering Leaders in Non-Traditional Forms. Followed by a Leadership section in which I propose the new course, COLA 198, at the university to address bridging the gaps between student voice and Town & Gown Relations, based on reflection and applications of my time hear at the university. Through my experiences I have learned the power of developing relationships to understand others and their needs. I have also learned the importance of utilizing relationships when collaborating with others to achieve effective change. I have discovered that despite my circumstances, shortcomings, and labels placed on me by the world I can be an effective leader in my own way and hope to empower others to know the same.