Student trendsettersKristi DarbySchool: recent graduate of Grace Academy (valedictorian), will attend Berry College for a Bachelor's degree in engineering.Claim to fame: Attended the National Youth Leaders conference in Washington, D.C.She said: "In high school, a lot of students tend to follow and just go with the flow and be in the crowd. It gets really easy to set your own beliefs aside to become what other people want you to be in high school. I think of a trendsetter as someone who makes it a point to lead and follow what (she believes)."Monika GroppeSchool: rising senior at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.Claim to fame: Diverse achiever. Recent accomplishments include teaching a photography class at a Ghanaian orphanage, organizing an off-campus mural painting in Chattanooga, and running on the UTC track team.She said: "Perhaps what sets me apart from my peers is my global curiosity and genuine enthusiasm for all that is life. I work hard. I am aware of the value of time. I try not to disappoint those I love. I am not afraid to do things alone. I ask for help. I listen to people. I am eager to learn. I am aware of the value of balance in all things."Joyce McLainSchool: University of Tennessee at ChattanoogaClaim to Fame: Holds five bachelors degrees from UTC, in biology, English literature, drawing and painting, ceramics and anthropology. Is also a licensed practical nurse and works full time at Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute.She said: "I knew a long time ago that I was 'addicted' to school and that taking classes was what I wanted to do. I came from a small town where there wasn't much going on and you had to go off to school for classes."
When Taylor Dickinson saw a problem, she set out to find a solution.
"We weren't using our talents as well as we could be," the Girls Preparatory School senior said of herself and her classmates.
So she helped create Harvest, a program in which school clubs choose local non-profits each week and gather items for donations.
"Harvest is designed to take all of the GPS community and the resources that we have and put them in a directed and efficient effort to help local non-profits," Taylor said. "We're great at doing things outside the community and inside the community, but we felt this was really the time to focus our efforts into the places that need us in the immediate area."
The result, she said, has been an unexpected success. Harvest was a finalist in the Innovative Leadership category at WTCI's "Be More" Awards.
While Taylor was the student who wrote the proposals and leads the program in student council, she is quick to deflect credit.
"I certainly couldn't done it without the rest of my school. It's the students who run it every week," she said.
In addition to her work with Harvest, Taylor said she has "extremely varied interests." She is secretary general of Model UN, a starter on the varsity lacrosse team (she described herself as the "nerd" of the team) and a self-proclaimed Sports Center addict.
She will attend Vanderbilt University for a degree in human organizational development. She hopes to enter the field of non-profit administration.
"I think sometimes we limit ourselves by saying that we may only have one passion or two passions," she said.
Trendsetter is not a label Taylor sees in herself. "I definitely don't consider myself a trendsetter. I definitely don't like to follow the crowd or do something I think many people will follow. I like to send the trend in the way I act and the choices I make. I guess it's more setting an example. Trendy to me means the person who's always cutting edge. I don't necessarily think I'm cutting edge."