Skip to main content

Mandi Taylor: Focusing on School, Family and Her Future



Mandi Taylor took a leave of absence from college for 17 years for a very good reason: to raise her six children. She had to undergo open heart surgery in 2012 to fix a previously undiagnosed birth defect—a hole in her heart that was the size of a quarter. She experienced some complications and had to have a second surgery in 2017.

Now that Taylor’s kids are all attending school themselves and her health is in a good place, she decided she was ready to go back to school. But her finances are tight, so she applied for a scholarship at Salt Lake Community College. She was thrilled to discover that she was awarded the Paul & Kristina Cardall Family Scholarship. “The scholarship allows me to focus on my degree and my family. It is a great blessing. I can’t even describe how grateful I am,” she says.


Taylor, who is a first-generation college student, hopes her children will learn from her example and eventually go to college themselves. Her oldest daughter has already started planning a career in psychiatry, and her oldest son wants to be an airline pilot. She is encouraging her kids to start their college experience at SLCC. As she explains, “SLCC provides so much flexibility, and the teachers are the best.”

Taylor is studying to be an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter, and she loves the ASL program at SLCC. “Most of the professors here are from the deaf community, so I am learning from people who have first-hand experience with the language,” she says. She ultimately wants to focus on interpreting in mental health and trauma recovery settings, saying, “I want to be there to facilitate communication in these fields where, I know from my own experience, things are stressful enough without a language barrier.”


About the Paul & Kristina Cardall Family Scholarship

Paul Cardall is a pianist, composer and producer, and he also happens to be an SLCC alumnus. He and his spouse, Kristina, created a scholarship at SLCC to help students who have suffered from congenital heart disease. As someone who has dealt with heart issues, Paul Cardall wanted to help other people with the same condition. To read more about Paul Cardall and his philanthropic pursuits, check out this article about him in SLCC Magazine.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Rev Up Your Future at SLCC Annuals Hop into College

SLCC West Valley Center will be opening its doors on Friday, August 2, from 6-9 pm for their annual lowrider event that celebrates the automotive culture and welcomes current, past, and future Bruins into the SLCC community. This unique event allows lowriders to showcase their vehicles and for spectators to witness the creativity, craftsmanship, and passion that goes into a lowrider car. From the sleek custom paint jobs to the impressive hydraulics showcased at the hop-off, attendees get immersed in the vibrant culture created by SLCC West Valley’s community. Beyond the car show, Hop into College provides prospective students and their families the opportunity to explore SLCC, engage with their future peers, staff and faculty and obtain valuable insight into the degrees and programs offered. Furthermore, the community is provided with countless beneficial resources not only as an SLCC student but as a community member. Whether interested in learning more about the lowrider community o...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Center for Prior Learning Receives an Honorable Mention

Today, SLCC's Credit for Prior Learning department received an Honorable Mention from the  Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL ) and the  Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education  for its intentional approach and for expanding student options to receive credit for prior learning.  Credit for Prior Learning (CPL)  allows students to obtain college credit for knowledge and skills acquired outside of the traditional academic environment. This is exceptionally beneficial for adult learners, who, according to CAEL, have a 17% higher chance of graduating compared to those adults who don’t earn credits through prior learning programs. The CPL department at SLCC was created in 2020 and since then the volume of students served has grown as the department continues to expand. To be eligible for CPL, students must be working towards a degree, certificate, or apprenticeship. Director of Credit for Prior Learning at SLCC, Andrea Tipton, mentioned fee...
Post a Comment
Read more

Board of Higher Ed names Gregory F. Peterson 9th SLCC President

The Utah Board of Higher Education unanimously selected Gregory F. Peterson, Ed.D., as the ninth president of Salt Lake Community College today, following an extensive national search. Peterson will assume the position on July 1, 2024, and succeeds Deneece G. Huftalin, who served as president from 2014-2024.   “I’m humbled by the opportunity to serve as Salt Lake Community College’s next president, and I look forward to reinforcing SLCC’s commitment to providing educational pathways for transfer and workforce that improve the lives of every member of our community,” Peterson said. “SLCC has an amazing future ahead, and I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of that journey.”   As part of its delegated duties and responsibilities, the SLCC Board of Trustees named an  11-member committee  in December 2023 to conduct a national search for the next president of SLCC. The committee is composed of representatives from the Utah Board of Higher Education and SLCC trustees, facul...
Post a Comment
Read more