USCA’s Outstanding Senior Student addresses peers

USCA’s Outstanding Senior Student addresses peers

USCA’s Outstanding Senior Student addressed family, friends and fellow Pacers just before commencement Dec. 11, in the Convocation Center.

Below are her remarks, prepared for delivery and the video of her presentation.

 Watch the video

Remarks Transcript

Taylor Joop
Outstanding Senior Student
As prepared for delivery
Dec. 11, 2025

Good morning.

What an honor it is to be here today.

First, I want to start off by introducing myself.

I’m Taylor Joop, and I have spent the last five semesters practically living in the nursing building across campus.

Here at USCA, I also spent many hours of my time running around the convocation center during practice with my cross-country teammates, singing and laughing to the dumbest jokes.

There are many reasons I have loved my time at USCA, but I would also like to give you a bit of a backstory to who I am.

I’m from a small town in Central Illinois, where my house looks out to a cornfield, and my classmates used to drive tractors to school.

I took an alternative path out of high school, starting my college journey at a community college running cross-country and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.

Shortly before finishing my associate’s degree, a coach from USCA reached out, and I knew it was the opportunity I had been waiting for.

I packed up and drove 11.5 hours to a town I had never been to before and committed to run but also join the nursing program. The staff here pushed and made sure I made it in the program.

From that moment on, every person at USCA has been kind and welcoming. USCA provided us with a community filled with opportunities and experiences that is the foundation for the rest of our lives.

While I only know the professors in the school of nursing, I know they are the best because that is the standard held at USCA. USCA created a sense of community and offered different opportunities to lead, giving us resources needed to be successful in school and in life.

In the School of Nursing, I had the pleasure to serve as a peer tutor in the Peer Ambassador for Student Success program. As a peer ambassador, I provided academic support to classmates to be successful in some of the most challenging nursing courses.

I also served as secretary on the Student Nurses Association Board. On campus, many of my classmates and friends have held student government positions and even contributed to philanthropic efforts. From these experiences, I can attest to the sense of community this school has to offer.

Our campus is beautiful and quaint, and it has hopefully given us some of the best memories of our lives.

For me, I’ve spent many hours at the tennis courts playing pickleball. Numerous trips to Starbucks to caffeinate during the long, hard study days.

Another tradition I will cherish is after big exams going with my fellow nursing students to the local Mexican restaurant to celebrate the small wins with some chips and salsa. From the friends I have made from cross-country and in the nursing program, I truly can’t imagine doing this process without them. I hope all of you can say the same from your experiences here at USCA.

While this is the end of our journey at USCA and we are going our separate ways, these memories will stick with us for the rest of our lives.

I am so proud of us and our academic accomplishments, what a blessing it is to have this educational opportunity.

Tonight, this room will be filled with the people who have supported us and who will celebrate this great accomplishment with us. I would like to take this time to thank my parents, my grandparents, Briar, Faith and Jahsiah and all my nursing classmates for being such a strong support system through this journey. I would also like to thank the professors at the school of nursing for being so helpful, available, caring and welcoming to help any stressful student in need. Lastly, to my Grandpa Michael in heaven, I know you would be so proud.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak, and I look forward to our graduation tonight.

Watch the video

For more information, contact us at news@usca.edu.