PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — One Tampa Bay Area mom is proving it's never too late to go back to school.
Erin Taylor found her calling in education. She's a Medical Behavioral Assistant at New Heights Elementary, working with students with special needs, but her path to get there looked a little different.
“I actually started as a mom in the car line, and I was like you know, I've been a stay-at-home mom for 11 years. It's time for me to get back out into the real world,” said Taylor. "I was like well I have a problem: I don't have my high school diploma."
A few years ago, Taylor started working in the cafeteria at New Heights, where her kids are students. Still, she said she wanted to do more.
“I was like there's more of a purpose for me. I've got to find it,” said Taylor. "I decided it's time to get my GED, and then I found out that there was an awesome program through Pinellas County Schools that they'll actually help me get that desire that I'm looking for."
That journey took time and dedication.
"I went two times a week, and then I did an hour each night, study, study, study, kept it together, mom-ed, wife-d, did all of that,” said Taylor.
The hard work paid off. On Thursday, Taylor will walk across the stage at St. Petersburg High School to get her diploma 23 years after leaving school.
"I get to have both my kids watch me walk across the stage completely proud,” said Taylor. “It's been a complete blessing that my family was so supportive, this whole family knit here at New Heights, always pushing me."
Pinellas County Schools said last school year, 313 high school-aged students and adults earned their GEDs, and nearly 150 of them will take part in this week's county-wide graduation ceremony.
“It’s never too late. Never ever too late,” said Taylor. “I thought that about myself. I was like I’m almost 42, really? Like you’re going to go back to school? Yeah. I went back to school, and you can go back to school too.”
