Avy Taylor BA’22 has traveled far since her days hitchhiking alone across Peru.
It was 2020, and it had been only a few weeks since Taylor had dropped out of college after what she describes as a breakdown. She just couldn’t continue the path she was on, she decided.
“At the time, I didn’t know who I was, but I do now,” Taylor said.
Her trip to Peru and the trials she faced leading to that adventure are just a few of the hardships she has endured. From dealing with a stutter as a young child to being diagnosed with severe clinical depression at age 12, Taylor has sought to be comfortable with who she is her entire young life, she said.
Her journey to find herself has taken her from The University of Texas at Dallas to her new roles as a pageant winner and a creative marketing professional.
“For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled with depression,” said Taylor, who will compete in the Miss Texas Scholarship pageant June 25-29 in Richardson. “I struggled a lot with staying silent because I wasn’t open about my depression. When you’re silent, of course, that just makes things worse.”
One day at UT Austin, where she was majoring in biochemistry, Taylor realized that the life she had planned for herself was not authentic to her. She decided to drop out, and, in search of a new direction, she learned about a girls shelter in Peru that needed caretakers. A Spanish speaker, Taylor applied for a volunteer position at the shelter, which is managed by the Santa Martha Foundation, and was soon on a flight to South America.
The shelter, two hours outside of Lima, is home for girls ages 8 to 14 during the week while their mothers travel to the city for work. For five days a week, Taylor cooked for the girls, did their laundry and other chores, and tutored them. On weekends, when the girls went home, Taylor backpacked across the country.
“I lived in a slum and cared for 20 girls. I listened to them tell me about their dreams while we did our chores. Working there changed my life,” Taylor said. “They’re telling me that when they grow up, they want to be doctors or police officers, but the economy of Peru is not made to sustain their dreams. It was then that I decided to go back to college with the hope of helping girls like these through policy and economic reform.”
After returning home to North Texas, Taylor visited UT Dallas and immediately felt a difference. The attitude toward students was so different than anything she had experienced at other schools and was exemplified by campus signs proclaiming “You Belong Here.”
“That was how I knew that the University would care about me and that they cared about my success,” Taylor said.
As a student in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies, she focused on public health and political science, and for the first time felt validated, she said. Dr. Azadeh Stark, an assistant professor of instruction in interdisciplinary studies, hired her as a teaching assistant for Stark’s class on U.S. health care systems.
“That was how I knew that the University would care about me and that they cared about my success.”
Avy Taylor BA’22
“I told Dr. Stark my story, and she believed in me,” Taylor said. “It was very special to me to be mentored by her and to be given responsibility as a TA as an undergraduate.”
After graduation, Taylor joined Dallas architecture firm Architexas as its marketing manager. She also works as a data and website coordinator for Mental Health America of Greater Dallas.
Along the way, Taylor discovered the world of pageants and won the Miss Lewisville title in January. She is now preparing for the Miss Texas pageant.
Taylor said competing in pageants has given her a chance to show the world who she is. But for her, the most important part of participating is sharing her story.
“My platform as a pageant contestant is showing that I’m a vulnerable, authentic and transparent person. That is actually my strength,” Taylor said. “And I want to represent people who feel like they’re being held back because of mental illness and show them that you can always be successful despite what hardships they’ve been through.”
Taylor said she also wants to represent people who grew up, as she did, with depression. She said one of the most enjoyable parts of being a pageant queen is visiting schools and interacting with children.
“My platform is about empowering kids in the shadows and inspiring them to be their best selves,” she said. “I never had a professional role model to look up to who was honest about their lived experiences of mental illness … and that’s why I put myself in crazy, uncomfortable, difficult situations — to learn how to help people.”