Upperclassmen tend to be very stressed out, whether that be about current classes or future plans. But a lot of students don’t know there is an entire staff of professionals dedicated to helping them decide how to carry out their plans after high school.

That staff of highly qualified and highly helpful people can be found in the Career Center, and it includes Jann Taylor.

Jann Taylor is a college access counselor who mainly works with juniors and seniors on college research, applications, and scholarships. She has helped countless students at Grants Pass High School.

She attended four different colleges to get where she is today, so she is no stranger to finding an alternative way for post high school success other than the traditional four year college plan. She also knows firsthand about how people’s career paths may change once, twice, or even several times as they mature.

Taylor first thought she wanted to be a dentist, but after going on a job shadow coordinated by “someone like Mr. Young” at the college she attended, she quickly realized that it was not the career she was destined for.   

“I fainted,” Taylor laughs, “and when I woke up I was lying on top of the patient.  It was time to reevaluate my plans.”

Not long after changing her path and getting her teaching degree, Taylor realized her love for working directly with people. Her resume eventually grew to include middle school teacher, middle school principal, curriculum director, and now, college access counselor.

Taylor works for a nonprofit program called College Dreams, an organization that seeks to identify motivated students with some kind of risk factor (i.e. first generation college students, low-income students, students with single parents, etc.).

College Dreams encompasses a variety of programs, and Taylor says that she tries her hardest to find a program for every student that seeks her out. College Dreams, she said, works both with students who want to pursue higher education and students who want to go directly into the job field.

Ms. Taylor has worked with a very diverse group of students over the years. Her ideal student is not necessarily one with a high GPA, but simply someone dedicated to improving their future. However, she said, perhaps the most important thing is that they come in  regularly: “I can’t help students if they don’t come and see me!”

Taylor is a dedicated, compassionate, and incredibly helpful person who knows firsthand that evaluating post-high school plans can be a tricky road to navigate.

However, she is just one of the helpful people that students can find in the Career Center. People like Jann Taylor cannot do their jobs unless students do theirs - to take advantage of their expertise and resources.