Lives Changed: Taylor-Monet Brice
In the fifth grade Taylor-Monet Brice started focusing on her future. At a young age, Taylor, 16, knew she wanted to become a doctor but was unsure of what aspect of the medical field she wanted to focus on.
As she was beginning to focus more on her future, Taylor also joined the Warrior Guides mentoring program through the Andrew L. Hicks, Jr. Foundation. The program pairs Henderson High schoolers, who live in West Chester, Pa., with fourth through sixth graders from Chester, Pa.
“I was experiencing life outside of the City of Chester so it was a really good experience for me,” Taylor said.
After transitioning out of Warrior Guides, Taylor stayed with the Foundation, joining RISE, the teen leadership development program for Chester 7th and 8th graders. Taylor has graduated into the Launch program. Part of the Launch college and career preparatory program requires that all members participate in the demanding educational boot camp, Upward Bound Summer Academy.
In the summer academy, Taylor spent five weeks at Lincoln University where she took college prep classes and lived away from home. She said she gained a sense of independence and responsibility during the program, and is thankful that it is a critical component of Launch.
With Launch, Taylor also attends SAT prep classes and workshops and has a mentor in her career field of choice.
While she’s always been dedicated to her school work, Taylor said that without the Foundation she doesn’t think she would have taken preparing for college so seriously.
For Taylor, the Foundation “is a family … [that] opens up doors.”
Now a junior at the STEM Academy at Showalter, Taylor has her path set on becoming a reproductive endocrinologist, upon graduating from a Historically Black University, HBU.