Jessica Leanne Taylor '07

The next time you read a news story from United Press International (UPI), check the byline. It may have been written by Jessica Leanne Taylor '07 of Elizabethton, Tenn., who is working as a freelance journalist for the UPI security and terrorism desk.

Jessica's love for journalism started in second grade, when she founded the stillpublished Pirate Press at her elementary school. She continued her career as a writer for her local newspaper during high school and as editor for two years of The Paladin at Furman.

A political science major, Jessica hopes to become a political journalist. She plans to work for several years (hopefully as a reporter assigned to a presidential candidate) and then go to graduate school in public policy or journalism. She has honed her skills through internships in Washington, D.C., with The National Journal and UPI. In 2004 she was awarded the South Carolina Press Association Munday Scholarship as the outstanding college journalist in South Carolina.

Jessica came to Furman because she wanted to attend a small liberal arts college in the South. During her time at Furman, she has played french horn in the marching band, worked for marketing and public relations, and been an Admissions Ambassador and a member of the Riley Institute Advance Team. She is a member of Senior Order, Phi Sigma Alpha (the political science honor society) and Sigma Tau Delta (the English honor society). In winter 2007 she will participate in the study abroad program in South Africa.

Scholarship assistance is very important to Jessica. "Without this assistance I would have had to attend a different school," she says. "The Founders Scholarship was exactly what I needed to attend Furman.Without it, I definitely wouldn't be here."