Tayler Malone - Women’s Soccer
For Tayler Malone, soccer is more than just a pastime or a sport. It’s a major part of her life, and after not playing for nearly two years, she realized just how important that was.
“I’ve played soccer since I was like 10 years old, and when I decided not to play anymore because of joining the nursing program, that took a big toll on me,” Malone said. “It actually affected my grades. Soccer’s been in my life for nine years and when I decided not to play, it was like something was missing.”
Malone graduated from St. Clair High School in 2018 and began attending SC4’s nursing program that fall. During her first two years in the program, the Skippers didn’t have a soccer team, which meant Malone’s career had come to a halt with no future plans to continue playing.
“The nursing program was very unexpected for me. I knew it would be hard, but I’d always gotten straight As in high school, but this was a lot harder,” she said.
She attributes this struggle to not having soccer to help keep her motivated and on track.
“Soccer gave me better time management,” she said. “In high school I’d always had practices four or five days a week and I knew I’d be gone this weekend or that so I’d have to get all of my work done ahead of time. Now I had no schedule. I had all this free time and I didn’t know how to manage it.”
Malone is excited to get to work and start practicing again, so much so that once she heard SC4 might be starting a women’s soccer program, she took it upon herself to get an early start.
“I put an indoor soccer team together in the winter so we could all start playing,” she said. “I talked with some of the girls I knew who were at SC4 or would be coming here who played soccer and we started playing together. I thought it was cool because I’ve played with some of the people before, and others had gone to St. Clair, and then coach came to watch us a little bit too.”
This initiative and leadership isn’t something that came naturally to Malone, however. Her adversity during her time in the nursing program has taught her many valuable lessons, and now she’s able to put them into practice.
“I’ve never been a person to take leadership like that, I wasn’t ever a team captain in high school,” she’s said. “But while I was in the nursing program, I failed by like one percent and that taught me a lot of leadership and helped me to take courage.”
Malone’s got a fresh perspective now and a lot of determination to not only make herself better, but the lives of others around her, which is mostly why she joined the nursing program in the first place.
“I’ve always been interested in the medical field and the human body, and now I’m working as a CNA,” she's said. “I love it. This is the job for me. I love making my residents’ days better.”
This summer she’s been working a Certified Nursing Assistant at the Medilodge Nursing Care Facility.
“I’m a very big people person and I love being able to help others. I know being in the hospital isn’t fun, and I want to be able to share a smile,” she said. “I know just one CNA can make a difference.”
