Career Center student first to enter Honors Program

Taylor Stav is a soft-spoken OTC student who hopes her actions will speak loudly.

The Willard High School graduate is the first student to advance from OTC’s high school Career Center program to be accepted into the OTC Honors Program.

But being accepted into the college isn’t enough for this 18 year old. She hopes to excel in the program and at OTC.

“I want my name to stand out at OTC. I want to graduate from here and show other schools that I’ll be a top student thanks to OTC,” Taylor said.

Taylor, who has a 3.6 grade point average, applied to the program, which gives selected students a chance to take advanced-level classes, after talking to Danelle Maxwell, an instructor in the agriculture program.

Taylor was looking for something like the Honors Program since she admits she didn’t take high school seriously.

“I’m a perfectionist. I didn’t challenge myself in high school. I could have done better,” she admitted. “I like the honors classes and how we have a lot of discussions. They are a lot more thought out.”

So, Taylor was excited when she was one of 16 accepted this semester into the program, which its director, Todd Yerby, says is designed to give students “a more stimulating environment for learning.”

“The courses are challenging and in a different format with lectures. Students also are active in social events, fundraising and community involvement,” Yerby said.

Taylor has no plans to take it easy at OTC. Her future is in botany and the genetics of plant life.

“I want to learn about plants,” she said. At home, she has a small garden and her uncles grow soybeans.

Taylor plans to use what she learns about plants towards her ultimate goals as a botanist.

“I’d like to find a cure to some disease through the use of plants,” she said. “I’d like to win the Nobel Prize.”