By FRED KRONER
Mike Taylor represents both the first and the last as he prepares to graduate from Mahomet-Seymour High School on Friday (May 28).
Taylor finished first in the senior class academically, the rank earning him designation as the Class of 2021 valedictorian.
He will be the last person honored as valedictorian at M-S. The Board of Education has approved eliminating class rank and, with that, recognizing the top two students. That policy will take effect with the graduating Class of 2022.
Taylor is not a fan of the decision and even addressed the Board at a meeting to share his thoughts.
“I feel strongly about this and actually went and spoke at a school board meeting in defense of class rank,” Taylor said. “I see it as part of a larger societal trend of adults trying to make things easier on kids.
“There is no doubt that having class rank can put lots of pressure and expectations on students. However, our parents and our grandparents all had to endure demanding challenges throughout their lives, but that adversity helped make them into strong adults.
“Stressful challenges help us grow, so I think it’s sad the school is taking one less challenge away from students by getting rid of class rank.”
Taylor is not outspoken by nature.
“Michael is fairly reserved and one of the kindest and nicest kids I’ve been around,” Mahomet-Seymour principal Chad Benedict said, “but he’s not afraid to stand up for what he believes in.”
When Taylor states an opinion, Benedict said, it’s not to be a rabble-rouser.
“He is always very professional and respectful,” Benedict said. “Someone that young hasn’t always developed those qualities yet.”
Taylor had an assortment of college choices and narrowed his final list to four schools: Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah; the University of Illinois, Utah State University, in Logan, Utah, and the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City.
He will attend either BYU or Utah State, but is deferring his enrollment for two years to continue a family tradition.
“My twin brother (Joe) and I both received two-year mission calls to serve as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” Taylor said. “This is something that we have both planned on doing since we were little.
“Many people in our church serve missions.”
Taylor’s parents (Alison and Jed) went that route as teen-agers and older sister Anna (2018 M-S graduate) recently returned from a two-year mission in the Spanish-speaking Boise, Idaho, mission and is in college at Utah State University.
Both Mike Taylor and Joe Taylor will leave for their mission assignments on July 6. They could not pick where they will be sent.
“I will be serving in the Chile Santiago-East mission and Joe will be heading to Barranquilla Colombia,” Mike Taylor said. “I’m excited to perfect my Spanish and meet the people in Chile.
“We don’t choose where we go, our church assigns us a mission.”
Delaying his college enrollment for two years also provides Taylor with more time to consider his options for the future.
“I am not sure what I will major in yet,” Taylor said. “I think it would be cool to be an engineer. I also think it would be cool to be a doctor.
“I expect the experiences that I will have in Santiago, Chile will help me make up my mind.”
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Taylor, who has attended schools in the M-S district since kindergarten, established a game plan for his high school education four years ago.
“I had a couple of goals,” Taylor said. “First, to work hard and always try my best, which meant no turning in late work.
“And second, no matter how busy I was during the week, I was going to take Sunday off from all of my academic work.”
To meet the second objective meant being disciplined – and busy – at the outset of the weekend.
“On the weekends, I would often get a lot of homework, so my goal from freshman year was to get all of that work done on Saturday, and spend Sunday focusing on other activities like family and church,” Taylor said.
In retrospect, he said, “I feel like I have been able to accomplish both of those goals.”
As for being the valedictorian, Taylor said, “one thing that I think it means is that everyone can accomplish anything if they put their minds to it.
“If I can be the valedictorian, then there is no reason that others can’t do similar things. I worked alongside some really awesome classmates and teachers at M-SHS, people that pushed me to be the best that I can be.”
His determination and scheduling were also a prominent part of his day-to-day life, not just his weekend routine.
“My goal has been to get to bed between 10:30 and 11 p.m. because I get up at 5:30 each morning for an early morning church class (scripture class) alongside 25 friends from school that attend the same Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregation,” Taylor said. “During the pandemic we were able to sleep in an hour later – thankfully – and we met online from 7-8 a.m. instead of the normal in-person class.”
He made the schedule work because of his proficiency with his studies.
“While others have a talent like running or playing an instrument, I have the gift of being a fast learner,” Taylor said. “Frequently, I would spend a few hours studying each night, which I think you would find is typical of most kids.”
Taylor has participated in scouting for the last decade and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout when he was 15 years old.
“I have been active in scouting since I was 8 and I’m grateful for the scouting program because it has provided many opportunities for community service projects,” Taylor said.
He was part of Troop 333, which placed hundreds of American Flags in Mahomet neighborhoods during holidays throughout the year.
“It was always fun to see all of the flags flying after they were put up,” said Taylor, who also participated in food drives, built birdhouses, built picnic tables and cleaned parks.
For his Eagle Scout project, he teamed up with brother to provide a much-needed service.
“We did a genealogy-focused project in Riverside Cemetery in Mahomet,” Mike Taylor said. “We took pictures of every tombstone in the cemetery and uploaded all of the details to an online grave website, so people can find their deceased ancestors online.”
His various interests and activities are in keeping with the nature of the person his M-S teachers have seen on display.
“Mike is a really sweet kid and I don’t think I’ve ever heard a mean word out of his mouth,” said Eric Potter, Taylor’s instructor in AP Physics.
“He always has good things to say about people. If you asked (at the high school), ‘Who is one of the more likeable people?’ he’s one. No one would have a bad thing to say about him.”
Potter would include faculty members in his assertion, not just those in the student body.
“He’s one teachers like to have in class,” Potter said. “He wants to learn and he asks questions.”
Taylor can serve as a facilitator, too.
“He keeps the class flowing,” Potter said. “If you put him in a group, he’ll take the lead trying to help others.
“He had a passion and excitement for learning.”
Taylor took eight AP classes at M-S, which will give him a head start on college once he arrives on a campus.
“The AP classes will give me approximately two years’ worth of college credit,” Taylor said. “I will be able to opt out of a lot of the required general education classes, but the real reward of taking those AP classes was getting real experience with college-level materials.”
As for his favorite classes, Taylor said that three stood out for him.
“I’ve really enjoyed my math and science classes, and I think that it is just how my brain works,” Taylor said. “My favorite classes were Algebra II, AP Chemistry and Physics.
“My favorite part of those classes was that we were able to work in teams. It was a blast. While those classes were hard, it was fun to work together with my classmates and friends.”
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Throughout high school, Taylor has participated in academic teams at M-S such as WYSE (Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering) and the Math Team.
“One of the best parts about being at Mahomet-Seymour are the top-notch programs like Math Team and WYSE,” Taylor said. “Coach Potter has done an excellent job of creating an expectation of excellence.
“Math Team and WYSE were awesome and it did not take much effort to excel at them. Basically, if you listen to Coach Potter and just learn three new things each time you take a test, you’ll do well.”
The Math Team won four consecutive regional titles during Taylor’s high school years and earned state championships in 2019 and 2021.
Taylor senses some backwards thinking about the benefits of the school’s academic teams.
“Some people say studying for Math Team and WYSE makes you better at school, but I find the opposite to be true,” Taylor said. “Studying for Calculus and AP Physics class will make you better at WYSE and Math Team.
“It was a lot of fun participating in these programs and being part of a winning team. I am surprised that more people do not participate in these programs. I made some great friends over the four years in high school through these programs.
Much of Taylor’s final 15 months of high school have had a different look because of the COVID-19 pandemic. His junior year ended with about eight weeks of remote classes.
His senior year has featured a blend of remote and in-person learning. He didn’t view the changes as either a blessing or a curse.
“The pandemic has been weird, to say the least,” Taylor said. “Being with friends is certainly the best part of being in high school and we lost that part of the last 15 months.
“We were excited when we were able to start meeting in-person again in the fall.”
The faculty helped make the transitions work without major disruptions.
“We are fortunate at Mahomet-Seymour to have great teachers and staff that did a great job in making it as easy for us students to learn as much as possible during the pandemic,” Taylor said. “They worked with us in the hybrid classroom setting to help us with our grades.
“It made it as seamless as possible. I found that I was able to adapt fairly quickly to the hybrid environment.”
Taylor felt fortunate, especially when doing at-home learning.
“While the pandemic hit many people in different ways, it certainly hit some people harder than others,” Taylor said. “I was fortunate enough to live in a neighborhood that had good internet connectivity and I was fortunate to have a family situation that allowed my siblings and me to adapt fairly quickly.
“I know that wasn’t the case for everyone. My schedule did not change much during the pandemic other than having to take some classes online.
“I set boundaries on my time and at the end of the online school day, I tried to transition to being ‘at home’ and would try to do family activities. My family would also play board games or do activities outside. These are some activities that we tried to do to try and maintain a normal balance during the pandemic and I think these activities helped me out.”
Taylor progressed from being totally remote during the final weeks of his junior year, to attending school twice-a-week during the fall to being at school four days a week in his final semester.
One of his fondest high school memories took place earlier this month.
“The thing I will remember most about high school will probably be this year’s prom,” Taylor said. “It was a blast hanging out with my friends, and the masks, social distancing, and other COVID protocols helped make that night unforgettable.
“I was grateful that the teachers put in all of the effort to make it happen.”
Academically, he believes he is where he would have been had the disruptions not occurred.
“Ultimately my academic performance was not impacted by the pandemic,” Taylor said. “I am just incredibly grateful to all of the teachers and administrators in our school district who have worked hard to get us through the last year and a half.
“Looking back 15 months ago, it wasn’t clear that we would be here, but we are and we are in great shape.”
Taylor said he never felt undue pressure applied at home to achieve top grades.
“My parents have always pushed me and my siblings to do our best, that’s all that they have cared about,” Taylor said. “If one of us performed poorly on a test or assignment, they would ask us what happened and they wanted to know if we tried our hardest.
“My parents have tried to focus on helping us be well-rounded individuals, and hopefully they have succeeded.”
Taylor said there were a myriad of people who have helped determine his path.
“Over the years, I’ve had many role models that have influenced me throughout my life,” Taylor said. “I’ve had many teachers, friends, family, church leaders and others who have instilled in me a positive work ethic and kindness towards others.”
As he reflects on his time at M-S, Taylor can’t find much he would change, including the past 15 months.
“I do not have many regrets about high school,” Taylor said. “I don’t even think I would change COVID.
“Sure, we missed out on a lot of awesome stuff because of COVID, like the physics amusement park trip and doing a single, combined graduation.
“However, I believe that the pandemic has made the Class of 2021 stronger and more resilient. Enduring years like 2020 builds grit and the Class of 2021 has certainly developed grit.
“I have no doubt that many of us from the Class of 2021 will go on to accomplish many great things.”
