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Zaniya Taylor

1,425

Bold Points

6x

Nominee

1x

Finalist

1x

Winner

Bio

Hello! My name is Zaniya Taylor, I'm a Howard University student, and my lifetime goal is to change the world. Not only will I be the first person in my family to graduate from college (and eventually get my Ph.D.), but I also have goals that go beyond that to start an international nonprofit focused in sustainable development from a cultural perspective. I've always been passionate about learning and experiencing the world, and I believe that through seeking to understand and care for others you can make a major difference in the world. It is with this mindset that I go into my higher education journey and the working world.

Education

Howard University

Bachelor's degree program
2023 - 2027
  • Majors:
    • Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other
  • GPA:
    3.5

Colorado Early Colleges Aurora

High School
2019 - 2022

Community College of Aurora

Associate's degree program
2019 - 2023

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Doctoral degree program (PhD, MD, JD, etc.)

  • Majors of interest:

    • International/Globalization Studies
    • Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services, Other
    • Sociology
    • Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services
    • Classics and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, General
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      International Affairs

    • Dream career goals:

      Non-profit Founder and CEO, United Nations Employee

      Sports

      Lacrosse

      Club
      2016 – 20193 years

      Public services

      • Volunteering

        Village Exchange Center — Guide patients through the clinic
        Present

      Future Interests

      Advocacy

      Volunteering

      Philanthropy

      Entrepreneurship

      Do Good Scholarship
      There is a common saying that ignorance is bliss. In correlation with that, there are many cases that can prove this saying true. Despite this, it is my strong belief that ignoring or avoiding a negative issue will never bring you happiness. and in the case of problems that the world faces, no amount of ignorance will save you from having to face the issues at hand. For example, If you spend the day enjoying yourself at the water park, you may be unaware of the fact that there is an email in your inbox saying you have failed your final exams and must redo the year. Because you haven't read the email, you are having a carefree and blissful day. In this way it is true. However, the email is still there, and redoing the year is still something you have to do. In the end, you will open the email and you will have to face the truth. The bliss you get from ignorance is always temporary. This is what we have to understand about our world issues. No matter how much we ignore them, we will have to face the truth eventually. This is why we need to educate ourselves on major problems and do something about the adversities we're facing. My plan of action is to open up a non-profit organization that works and travels internationally to help developing nations be more sustainable and improve their way of life while still maintaining and fostering culture. It would utilize people from many different fields and combine our skill sets in order to work on issues affecting each community and solve them in a sustainable way. I think that an organization like this is exactly what the world needs. Many people think that helping the world means making the whole thing look like our developed countries. While there are clearly a great number of things going well for our developed countries, there are still a large number of things that they can work on, including environmental issues. On top of these environmental problems, this idea of improving underdeveloped nations by modeling them after developed nations means stripping away the culture in an attempt to make them mimic developed countries. The last things we need are more places growing to develop the same problems of our developed nations and contribute to the climate crisis. Starting my organization would allow for us to forego creating more environmental issues and take a more proactive approach to the climate crisis. Before we industrialize these nations and build a mini version of our main contributors to climate change, we can foster the culture they already have and work with them to build up their nation in a sustainable way that adheres to their own definition of a successful nation. I know that this goal is going to take a very long time to realize. However, the first step to making this happen is to further my education so that I know exactly what I need to do to get this started. No matter how hard this will be to achieve, choosing to remain ignorant and give up on this idea is not an option for me. No matter how much we wish to ignore it, our world is in danger, and I plan to use my education and leadership skills to create a way to help save it.
      Brandon Zylstra Road Less Traveled Scholarship
      Winner
      I didn't always know I was going to change the world. I have, however, always wanted to do something great. I've always been a passionate reader, and I think that somehow gave me the idea that I could do anything and come out triumphant in the end, like all main characters. That idea, combined with the phase of childhood when your career prospects are often changing, led to grand ideas about what I would be. I was a passionate leader, great at writing, and enthusiastic about learning as much as I could. I didn't know what I wanted to be, but I knew no matter what I chose to pursue, I was going to accomplish multitudes. Soon, I began to pay more attention to the world, where I fit into it, and those around me. I was also fortunate to have teachers and a family that took the time to show me the state of our world. I eventually concluded that I didn't like it. People who looked like me were getting their lives taken daily in the form of murder, incarceration, and a lack of affordable access to just about everything. I was taught that the future of everyone I knew was at stake because of generations of environmental abuse. I found that people I knew were getting separated from their families because of travel bans and immigration laws. Women were still being targeted while men sat back and enjoyed target practice. People grew so attached to their guns, they were defending murderers and terrorists. I began to realize that silent wars were waged every day against women, homeless people, immigrants, lower classes, "underdeveloped" countries, minorities, our friends, our families, the world itself. The world was up in flames. There I was in the middle of it with more problems to overcome than I could ever imagine. But what is a protagonist without a world to save? Eventually, I joined student council and used my position as president to organize school-wide walkouts against gun violence, donations to homeless shelters, climate change protests, and a recycling system all at my middle school. There, a seed was planted that eventually grew into my passion to make a difference, and soon, I finished middle school, left the country for the summer, and discovered another passion for traveling. Combining my passions and traits, I decided that I was going to start a nonprofit organization with different departments geared towards major world issues. Each department would have a team of people to work on creating solutions, a group to advertise solutions to the public, and a group actively working in the field to solve the problems. I would be the CEO of the organization and keep in contact with the board of directives to make sure we were sticking to our mission. This is now my dream. I know that to get there, I need education and experience. I attend Colorado Early Colleges Aurora so I can get my associate's degree early and learn as much as I can. I'm then going on to study and take classes on international development, business administration, sociology, and global sustainability. This will give me a better understanding of world issues and allow me access to the information that will help me find the solutions to our problems. It's not enough for me to simply try and make a difference. With a lot of help and hard work, I truly am going to change the world. After all, who better to make a difference than an over-ambitious black girl with the ability to dream big?