PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Lee Taylor Jr. isn’t the typical Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) student to someone unfamiliar with PVAMU. But to those who know what PVAMU is all about, Taylor is exactly where he’s supposed to be. PVAMU is about building each other up, opening the door to opportunities for every student, and it’s a place many call home for life.

Lee Taylor Jr.

Lee Taylor Jr. ’21

Taylor’s college journey began in the summer of 1996, and he transferred to PVAMU in 1998. After a false start, he returned to school again in the fall of 2000 and made the Dean’s List in 2001. After that, he took a break to work and raise his family. But he never gave up on his educational journey, hoping he could pick it back up again someday.

Now, more than 20 years later, Taylor returned to “The Hill” to finish his degree. He is set to graduate this spring with a bachelor’s degree in general studies.

PVAMU is a place where students from all walks of life and experiences can find a place where they are supported and encouraged and work towards dreams and goals, no matter what they have faced in the past. Ask any professor or staff member, or even a student strolling through “The Hill,” and they’ll tell you: there’s someone here who will help you: Whatever you put your mind to, you can do.

For Taylor, a son, brother, husband, father, stepfather and grandfather, he’s found PVAMU the second time around to be a place to come back to and a degree program that is focused on supporting him in whatever comes next in his career.

Taylor is also a student in PVAMU’s inaugural class of undergrads in the university’s new General Studies Degree Program, under the leadership of Alphonso Keaton, Ph.D., interim dean in the Office of Undergraduate Studies and associate professor of biology, and Mark Tschaepe, Ph.D., program coordinator and associate professor of philosophy. The university rolled out the new degree program last summer.

The General Studies Program is specially tailored to provide flexibility in an interdisciplinary field of study that complements students’ academic and career goals. It’s ideal for many types of students, including those who took a break to have a job but never graduated, or who are going to college for the first time as an adult.

This greatly improves their career and promotion opportunities, allows them to utilize the work they’ve already put in towards a degree, and opens the door to new pathways that they perhaps imagined but didn’t know how to get to, Keaton says. It’s also beneficial to students who changed their major late in their academic career as well, as it allows them to use their existing credits towards a degree that fits their career goals.

“After completion of the degree, students can enter the workforce, such as in industry, government, or non-profits; attend graduate school, or get certified to teach,” Keaton said. “The opportunities are many. I am a first-generation college graduate, and I know firsthand the struggles and difficulties of navigating a strategic pathway to successfully earning an undergraduate degree.”

Keaton and Taylor have established a friendship over the past year, as they have navigated similar educational journeys. This kind of mentorship is foundational to success in college for many students.

When someone tells you they believe in you, you start to believe you can do it too.

“I am truly happy for Mr. Taylor,” Keaton said. “Over the past year, Lee and I have spoken numerous times, and we’ve formed a bond. He is a true testament that determination, dedication, and discipline have their rewards. The hunger for education and opportunity is real. We must provide our young PV Scholars with academic programs that stimulate intellectual growth and development and prepare them to be leaders at and beyond ‘The Hill!’”

Currently, six other students are scheduled to graduate from the program alongside Taylor. The general studies major has grown since its beginning last summer to 45 students who have officially declared it as their major. It will soon offer courses in coding and app development as well, for non-computer science majors. Offered in collaboration with Drs. Yonggao Yang in the Computer Science Department and Musa Olaka, director of Libraries, the hope is to increase the number of students graduating from PVAMU with coding and app development skills as they enter the workforce or go on to attend professional schools and earn certifications.

As for Taylor, he wants to continue teaching high school and coach football, a nod to his educational past. He is currently leading carpentry and construction trades classes at the Industrial Trades Center in the Texas City Independent School District.

“Life has come around full circle, as I was originally an education major,” Taylor said, reflecting on his current role and his upcoming graduation. Taylor was also just named one of his district’s New Teachers of the Year.

He’s also a history buff who loves to travel, with a particular love for Egyptian and Roman history. As a father of three girls and grandfather to one “young man,” his family inspires him to keep going. “If I can do it, then they’ll know they can too,” he said.

It doesn’t matter how long it takes you to get there. It only matters that you get there and that you don’t give up. As Keaton said, “celebrate rarely, grind daily.”

“I believe I received a so-so education in high school,” Taylor remembered. “I honestly think you get out what you put into it. I mainly kept my grades up to play football. I was going through a lot emotionally and mentally during this time of my life, so focusing on schoolwork just wasn’t a priority to me. My biggest driving force right now is trying to make my girls proud. Showing them that they can accomplish anything they put their mind to, and no matter how many times you get knocked down, keep getting up and keep fighting. My daughter, Bre, has shown so much strength and determination throughout all of the adversity she has faced in her short lifetime. I admire her so much. Throughout it all, she never let anything stop her. I am trying to show her that even after all these years of me being out of school, that I can go back and finish and get my degree and that she can, too.”

By Meredith Mohr

-PVAMU-