Episode 40: Interview With Taylor Price - Turning Tragedy Into Triumph
One month after his Delbarton high school graduation, on July 8, 2004, Taylor Price had a catastrophic accident while vacationing on Long Island with his family. After diving into the ocean and hitting a hidden sandbar, he was rendered a C5-C6 quadriplegic at the age of 18. His life changed dramatically and irrevocably in that moment, but it is all that he has accomplished since then that truly defines the character of Taylor Price. Simply put, he has made the impossible possible. As a young Delbarton graduate, he was excited by the prospect of entering Georgetown University in fall 2004 as a college freshman. Instead, surrounded and supported by his loving family and friends, he aggressively sought medical and therapeutic treatments to address the devastating impact of his accident. Many cautioned him that his plan to still attend Georgetown was unfeasible but Price treated his accident as a delay, not a conclusion. In fact, started at Georgetown in fall 2005 and graduated c*m laude from Georgetown in spring 2010 after double majoring in finance and marketing. Ironically, he was one of the most active students on campus during his years as an undergraduate. But academic achievements were not enough. Price also co-founded the most generous privately funded Georgetown scholarship in memory of a friend's father, served as the student representative on Georgetown's Board of Directors for two years, and was a student leader in the development of Healey Family Student Center. An avid sports fan, he was also one of Georgetown's biggest athletic supporters. Next, in 2012, he earned a Masters of Professional Studies in Sports Industry Management from Georgetown and received the Ignatian Student Award, annually presented to one student for maintaining academic excellence while embodying Georgetown's Jesuit ideals and making a significant impact to the community. “Impossible” is a concept that does not sit well with Taylor Price. Price currently works at EVERFI, a company on the cutting edge of merging both the private and public sectors to deliver digital education differently. Previously, he held a prestigious job at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as Campaign Manager of the national “If You See Something, Say Something®” and has interned at The White House in Washington, DC, at Merrill Lynch in New York City, NY and at Vineyard Vines in Stamford, CT. From the first, he spoke candidly about his accident and shared his inspirational outlook at schools, nonprofits and large companies. He serves as an active, vocal advocate for The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and, since co-founding the Georgetown University Conference on Employment of People with Disabilities, he works hard to increase the employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Price is also an active member of the Delbarton Alumni Association board and A Place To Be®, an organization that helps people navigate and overcome life's challenges using clinically-based music therapy and expressive arts therapy. The accident and its aftermath are facts that impact his life, yet they do not define him.
