Former student body president and 2019 USC alumnus Taylor Wright recently started his journey into adulthood.
His first stop? City Hall.
For the past three months, Wright has worked as special assistant to Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin. He said he helps create and put in place the mayor’s vision for the city while working with city hall staff, local business leaders and others around the state and country.
One thing Wright said he is excited to tackle is food insecurity.
“It affects everything, you know? If you have good food, then you can have a healthy lifestyle; you can live longer and get a better job,” Wright said.
Wright said the office is also working to build international relationships with countries such as Taiwan and Belgium, among other projects such as revitalization.
“One of the coolest parts about being in the mayor’s office is that it literally touches everything in the city,” Wright said. “I get to learn about a little bit of everything. I know more about water [and] sewer than I ever thought I wanted to.”
Wright graduated with a public health degree in May and planned to go to medical school, but decided to reevaluate as a senior. He said Carolina exposed him to a lot of different opportunities.
“It really just came down to people and transformation,” Wright said. “I think one of the coolest parts about local government is you can kind of see immediate transformation.”
Anna Edwards, the associate vice president for Student Life, worked as Wright’s adviser when he served as student body president. Edwards said she watched Wright’s leadership style develop and was not surprised he ended up switching into politics.
“Some of his greatest gifts were what he had identified as political,” Edwards said. “His ability to gather a group of people around a particular topic or issue, how to motivate people to create change in their organizations.”
Wright first met the mayor, who is a former USC student body president himself, through his position in Student Government. When a vacancy came up in the mayor’s office, Benjamin called to offer him the job.
“I just knew it was a perfect fit as soon as he called me,” Wright said.
Wright said his experience at Carolina, especially his tenure as student body president, lends itself to his work now.
“It really was a quick crash course on a ton of different things, from budgeting to board meetings, and management to people management,” Wright said.
Denise Wellman, Wright’s former supervisor for student ambassadors, said she sees Wright continuing to work in public service.
“He could find himself in dealing with the big kind of policy that happens in Washington, D.C. or a mayor’s office or in the Statehouse or a governor’s office,” Wellman said. “But he’s really sort of a small-town guy, you know? And I think he, at his heart, he has a real interest in helping marginalized communities, marginalized populations.”
Though Wright enjoys working at the mayor’s office, he said he still faces the challenges most young professionals face. He said he is the youngest person working at city hall right now, and there are unique challenges that come with it.
“How do you, kind of, not overstep being the new guy, but how do you also show that you do know what you’re talking about and willing to learn?” Wright said.
Wright said he was nervous about getting a job, especially seeing a lot of his friends securing jobs early in their senior year. Wright’s advice for students is not to limit themselves and to always try things outside of their majors’ track.
“I got opportunities outside of being pre-med, which are helping me now,” Wright said.
Wright is still figuring out what's next for him. He is considering graduate school, possibly law or medical school.
“I’m kind of really giving myself to the end of this year to figure that out,” Wright said. “I think it’s important to continue my education. Especially, I'll say, as a minority and as a black male, I think it’s important to be overqualified for a lot of jobs.”
Ryan Patterson, assistant director of the Leadership and Service Center, first met Wright while working on the Lead the Way initiative, a voter registration project.
“I think that he’s going to continue doing something where he’s serving others and bettering society, whether that’s through medicine or through more public governance,” Patterson said. “It’s going to have to be something that matters to him and his values.”
Wellman emphasized Wright's love for USC and the Columbia.
“He is still very much a Gamecock," Wellman said. "He’s right here, and he’s very appreciative of his degree from the university.”