Hayden Taylor acknowledges were it not for the Nina Mason Pulliam Legacy Scholars program, he “wouldn’t have had any of the life-changing opportunities he has experienced.” After his mother passed away, he was under the guardianship of his grandparents. “Going to college would have been nearly impossible,” he says. Hayden is now a junior at ASU majoring in computer information systems. He completed a summer internship in Northern Ireland with Allstate Insurance and will work with them part-time for the next two years.

Upon graduation in 2018, he will hopefully start a full-time position as a product manager with the insurance giant. “The internship opportunity never could have happened without the support offered through the Nina Scholars program. They build you up for success and give you the tools you need to get there” he says. “My Nina Scholar coordinators are there to make sure everything is going okay, not just in school but in life as well.” Taylor also works as a photographer for ASU’s Engineering School, an intriguing opportunity for the young photographer who has been able to shoot internationally because of his summer internship.