Melanie Adams is an academic advisor in the Gaylord College of Journalism at the University of Oklahoma. In the past three years that she has worked there, she has advised over 1,200 graduate students. According to Adams, Tess Taylor will be the youngest student to graduate from Gaylord at the age of 19.
“Not only will she be the youngest,” Adams said. “She will have finished faster than anyone else I’ve advised.”
Adams has been Taylor’s advisor since 2009.
“She’s a hard worker,” Adams said. “She’s gotten very far very fast.”
Through dual enrollment, Taylor has been able to exceed the maximum number of hours allotted per semester in order to graduate sooner.
“She’s enrolled at the Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC) and at OU,” Adams said. “This allowed her to take a 26 hour semester once; 18 hours at OU and an additional eight at OCCC.”
Taylor is currently 18 and scheduled to graduate in 2012.
“I’m only in my second year of college,” Taylor said. “But I’m already considered a junior.”
Taylor graduated high school when she was 17.
“I’ve kind of always known that I wanted to graduate high school early,” Taylor said. “And then I got to college.”
Taylor said college was a great way for her to get work done at her own pace. “While a lot of my friends wanted to take fewer hours and stretch out their college career, I wanted to keep mine a little bit shorter,” Taylor said. “I wanted to make sure I stayed focused on the studies that actually mattered, as opposed to a lot of electives.”
Taylor doesn’t want her education to stop after she graduates from OU.
“I want to go to law school,” Taylor said. “I’m also thinking about doing fashion retail and management.”
In addition to her schoolwork, Taylor is also a manager at Savvy boutique, which is located on Campus Corner.
“The shop has been a really great complement to my school work,” Taylor said. “I’ve learned a lot about responsibility and time management.”
Taylor said that even with such a tight schedule between work and school, she still manages to get everything done that she needs to.
“I may show up late sometimes, but I’ve never missed a day of class,” Taylor said. “Also, when there is no one in the shop I can use that time to get some school work done.”
Taylor said that completing her college career at such a fast pace doesn’t bother her at all.
“I’m a naturally driven person,” Taylor said. “I want to get out in the real world and start living my life, and I’m not going to let my age get in the way of that goal.”
Tess Taylor is a junior at OU that will graduate next year at the age of 19. This will make her the youngest student to graduate from the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Video: Brittany Belli (1:08)
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