A trip to South Africa last spring gave CU Boulder graduate Aleela Taylor the inspiration she needed to chart her future.
It was an experience that gave her a new perspective on life and herself.
“It made me realize what my passions were,” said the Parker, Colorado, native. “I came back and decided I wanted to work in civil and human rights.”
This spring, after receiving her bachelor’s degree in international affairs with a minor in women and gender studies, Taylor, 21, plans to take a year off to work in the Denver area.
At the same time, she’ll study for the LSAT and apply to as many law schools as possible in hopes of becoming a human rights lawyer. She wants to effect positive change by helping to reform the nation’s prison system, and said the United States could take a cue from Sweden, whose prison system focuses more on rehabilitation.
As a study abroad student, she traveled around South Africa, where she met anti-Apartheid activists and forged unforgettable memories.
“It was nice to feel like I fit in,” she said of the welcome she was given.
Even so, the experience proved “humbling” for her in many ways as a young Black American woman. She bumped up against South Africa’s history with apartheid, and learned that personal identity and the terminology used to describe human beings can be tricky.
“I learned so much about multicultural human rights—and about myself,” she said.
College, especially on a large campus like CU Boulder, wasn’t always easy, Taylor admitted, but she is grateful she persevered. It helped to have powerful role models in her life, including her mother, Jean, who is graduating May 12 with a doctorate from CU Denver.
Her father told her, “Knowledge is power,’” but Taylor also gave a nod to what a South African teacher told her: That “being learned”—and not necessarily only from books—is important, too.
At CU Boulder, Taylor was actively involved with the campus’s Black Student Alliance, including the past year as a BSA officer, and plans to tap into her undergraduate leadership experiences to help propel her forward in her career and beyond.
“For me to make change, I have to be educated,” she said. “I’m glad I got my college education. It opens doors for me that otherwise would not have been opened for me as a woman of color.”
