Iria Taylor is a 2021 Pasadena High School graduate, GO BULLDOGS!
Iria was actively involved in the Ambassador program from 2017 - 2021. She is currently attending Howard University where she was accepted into the Nursing Program, her career goal is to become a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.
As a former student-athlete in Softball, Iria also volunteered more than 800 hours with various community organizations during her high school career and graduated with a 3.89 GPA. In addition to the skills she learned as an Ambassador, prior to leaving for college, Iria was selected to participate in the Inaugural Homegrown Leaders Youth Leadership program with Leadership Pasadena. She completed the program and received a Certificate of Completion and feels confident in saying her experiences and leadership training within the community and hard work in school contributed to her being selected as a 2021-2022 Target Scholar!
Now living on the east coast, Iria realizes that she made a big leap of faith to leave her family and move across the country to Washington, DC. However, she recently completed her first college semester with a 4.0 GPA and is confident she made the right decision. She is enjoying life at Howard meeting new people from all around the country with similar goals and dreams, and even more inspiring is that she is at an HBCU.
Iria’s advice for current Youth Ambassadors is to get involved! Look for volunteer opportunities and work as many community events as an Ambassador as you can. These experiences will help you to navigate situations or obstacles that you may encounter in life.
Also, attend the Life Skills training and workshops. Learn financial literacy, open up a checking and savings account, and don't do more than 6 transfers a month from your savings account or you will no longer have a savings account, but another checking account. Lesson learned!
Finally, NEVER GIVE UP! Keep pushing and believing in yourself! School, sports, being an Ambassador may seem like a lot of work but once you look back at all that you have accomplished, it is a breath of fresh air knowing that you did it. Lastly, apply, apply, apply for scholarships and apply early! Start now! And, with that, she leaves you with her favorite quote that helps her “Let your FAITH be BIGGER than your fear!” Psalm 46:10