Young student the youngest RMI graduate

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As Miley Taylor walked across the stage during summer commencement, she found herself emotional. At 19, this first-generation student from Goshen, Alabama, is perhaps the youngest person to ever graduate from Troy University’s Risk Management and Insurance Program.

“I was really emotional, especially on graduation day, because it just made me feel good knowing that I was the first person in my family to be able to do this,” Taylor said. “My whole life, I kind of felt like everybody was always like, ‘you're not going to go and do this,’ . . .  so I wanted to prove everybody wrong, and I feel like I did that.”

Taylor graduated on July 28 with a global business degree with a concentration in RMI. However, her college journey started at the age of 14. She applied and registered for classes before mentioning college to her parents. 

“It was during COVID, and there really wasn't really anything else to do,” Taylor said.  

She graduated from Charles Henderson High School at 17 years old and finished her bachelor’s degree two months after turning 19. While in college, she took classes two days a week and worked three.

Now, Taylor is working with the Fortune 300 company Auto-Owners Insurance as a commercial line underwriter, the same company where she interned.

“I think we're able to help people, being able to provide insurance to people, providing that security for your community,” Taylor said. “I'm very fond of risk management insurance, and I'm really fond of being an underwriter – just all around I enjoy it.”

Taylor plans to stay with the company her whole life, hoping to grow in her career with them.

She credits the Sorrell College of Business with giving her the skills and direction she needed to succeed. It was a chance conversation with an RMI professor that convinced her to concentrate in RMI, and she found her internship through a university recruitment event.

Taylor’s advice for current students – you can do anything.

“Everybody has been like, ‘Oh, you must be super smart’ or ‘you're like Young Sheldon’ – absolutely not,” Taylor said. “This is the one thing I keep trying to reiterate . . . this is for the normal kids.

“This is for the kids who struggle with school and don't finish every single class with an A. I did fairly well in school, but it was more the fact that I had the determination to do it.

“You can do anything you want to as long as you put your mind to it.”