To nominate a student for Youth Spotlight, email wvictora@nwfdailynews.com or call 315-4478.
Looking back on her high school career, Taylor Posey is amazed that she not only survived, but succeeded.
The Fort Walton Beach High School senior took 11 AP courses, maintained a high GPA and was captain of the Stars Dance Team.
During the summer and spring break, she worked seven days a week, 11 hours a day, to make enough to pay for her gas, clothing and food for the rest of the year.
“It’s really hard,” she said. “Wake up, go to school, dance, do homework, go to bed. It’s physically and emotionally difficult.
“It’s something you literally have to push yourself to do,” she added. “I’m proud of myself for figuring out how to manage it.”
Taylor, who lives in Destin, will graduate summa cum laude in the top 20 of her class of more than 400 students. She also has more than 150 hours of community service.
In the fall she is headed to Florida State University, where she plans to study engineering or biomedical engineering.
She said her senior year has been easier than the last two, but it’s all been a balancing act.
“I went to school events. I had friends. I would go to the movies,” she said. “But it was pretty rare.”
Also nominated:
- Emma Pilcher, a seventh-grader at Seaside Neighborhood School, recently completed an internship in Tallahassee for State Rep. Marti Coley.
Daily News Staff Writer Wendy Victora can be reached at 850-315-4478 or wvictora@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @WendyVnwfdn.
