Isaac Taylor is a sophomore at Kean and has already been involved in multiple community service projects to help build a strong involvement resume. He is secretary of the Biology Club, a resident assistant, PARC AC, former freshmen class secretary, current representative for the sophomore class and a Silver Leader with the Leadership Institute. He is able to balance his major in cell & molecular biology with all of his involvement and responsibilities at Kean.
As of the end of Spring 2017, Isaac has been secretary of the Biology Club. The Biology Club is a club for those in and around the biology major. They come together with a common interest in biology and work together to raise funds for their club events and serve the Kean community. Isaac, being a cell & molecular biology major, plans to graduate from Kean and go on to medical school to work in the surgery field or in toxicology.
"Because we are not funded by the University, we hold a lot of bake sales and fundraisers to raise money for the Biological Conference we hold in April, where we have people who work in the science majors come and give speeches to the students."
A PARC AC is an activities coordinator for residential student services. Isaac helps with the on campus programs for the residential community.
"We just do different programs to help the residence feel like they are home and have a sense of community," Isaac said about being a PARC AC. In accordance with being involved in the planning programs with the residential community, Isaac is a Resident Assistant (RA).
An RA is responsible for the residents of a floor in a residence hall. They oversee what happens in the dorms and oversee student activities.
"We as RAs are held to a very high standard, academically and morally. We are leaders on campus, so every time you step out of your building, every time you are on the Kean campus or off of it, you are still a leader and representative of Kean, so you're expected to act accordingly. It helped me grow up and made sure I was always doing the right things at the right time. I would never act up as a freshman, but I was more care-free, whereas now I am more structured and involved."
Through Isaac one can see the significance of involvement and the difference it makes on the Kean student. With Isaac's heavy involvement, he has made numerous friendships and built himself a strong resume. It is because of his involvement and the Leadership Institute that he was able to get himself the RA position.
He credits much of his reasoning for involvement to the Leadership Institute saying he has made the most friendships there over the Bronze Weekend.
"I was new to Kean when I joined the Leadership Institute. When I knew I was coming to Kean, I wanted to get as involved as I could, just like I was in high school, and I saw leadership as a great pick for me."
The T2K Bronze Leadership Retreat welcomes a selected group of incoming freshmen to spend a weekend at Kean before move-in day. The applicants apply for The Leadership Institute and over the weekend, volunteers and specialists from the Leadership Institute offer the new Bronze Leaders a series of leadership and team-building exercises to promote the students to become future leaders and volunteers on campus.
Isaac's favorite memories come from working in student government and the most special friendships to him are from the people he met during the T2K Bronze Leadership Retreat.
Being in multiple groups on campus, Isaac has participated in many service projects. He says his favorite was the Cougars that Care canning volunteer project from Spring 2017. Volunteers for this project worked to gather food to be donated to the community food bank.
Involvement helps Isaac stay connected to Kean and it makes him feel in the know of everything that goes on here on campus. Even if he is not directly connected to every event on campus, because of his positions and the connections he has made through his involvement he knows what is planned.
Isaac wants his future employers to see all of his involvement projects and know he is special. Future employers are interested in the students who were in clubs and organizations and volunteered. With everything Isaac has done and will continue to do, he is an ideal hire. Isaac credits his involvement for his growth as a person here on campus and his continued feeling of inclusion at Kean.
