Taylor Smith
HCA Healthcare
"It’s not a bad thing to not know what you want to do when you’re 18, 20, or 25! Nobody else’s timeline is yours and it doesn’t have to be."
Career Roadmap
Taylor's work combines: Technology, Medicine, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Healthcare Management
Western Governors University
Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a Project Manager:
Bachelor's Degree: Healthcare Management
Learn more about different paths to this career
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
I grew up in a very small town in Texas and was involved in a lot of extracurricular activities, including sports and band.
2.
I went to a small university straight out of high school and filled my course schedule with music classes—but I eventually decided it wasn’t where I wanted to be, so I came home and started working.
3.
I started working for HCA Healthcare at 19 years old and held a variety of positions in the clinics while also taking classes at the University of North Texas.
4.
I switched my major a few times before deciding to leave school because I was spending a lot of time and money without ever deciding what I wanted to do.
5.
After working in the clinics for years, my name was suggested for an open IT role in the corporate office—I moved into the position and fell in love with software development.
6.
After working for a decade and finally finding my passion for software development and healthcare, I wanted to advance in the field, but was told I needed a degree.
7.
I decided to go back to school and was drawn to Western Governors University's program because it was all online, which was crucial for me as a mother who also works full time.
8.
I graduated from WGU with a bachelor’s degree in healthcare management and am now eligible to advance into higher roles within my company—it’s my goal to become the chief information officer!
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
You have to have your life planned out.
How I responded:
In general, people believe that you need to have a specific plan for your life and career after graduating high school. In line with that, I went into college filling my schedule with classes that I was used to because I was following a plan. But I realized that I was actually wasting time and money on that plan when I wasn't even sure that's what I wanted to do. Now that I have more experience, I've learned that you don't have to plan everything out. It's okay to not know and just try things.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I switched colleges and changed my major a few times because I couldn't decide what I really wanted to do. It actually took me leaving school and working for a while before I was able to find my true passions and go back to school.
I got pregnant after starting at WGU and experienced complications at 8 months. I was very stressed about the baby but still had to do my school work. Fortunately, I got through that very stressful time because of the support I received from WGU.