Overcoming adversities and advancing in education can be difficult. At SPC, we are ready to support students facing a variety of challenges, including mental health issues, trauma, food insecurity, and many other obstacles. Along with a strong support network, some students overcome hardships through personal motivation and resilience that help guide their path.

Taylor Lundin, a recent SPC Political Science Transfer Pathway alum, overcame personal trauma, poor high school grades, an eating disorder, and the challenges of being a non-traditional student when she enrolled at SPC in 2024. Attending college to pursue a political or policy-related degree was the last thing on Taylor’s mind—until the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 deeply affected her. Then, in 2020, when George Floyd was murdered, this tragedy had an even bigger impact on her life and motivated her to focus her education on social justice. This motivation inspired her to overcome her concerns and helped set her on a new, meaningful path that includes advocacy and political leadership. Taylor reflects fondly on her experience on the SPC campus, especially how it helped her learn from various perspectives with the age and cultural diversity embodied at SPC.

With a desire to become politically active and eventually learn from an attorney involved in the state political arena, Taylor decided to work as a paid intern for Minnesota Senator Bonnie Westlin in January 2025. Taylor enjoyed this five-month internship, during which she experienced the inner workings of our state legislature firsthand. She describes this internship as a constituent-based position where she worked alongside another intern and a Legislative Assistant in providing weekly updates to the Senator on primary constituents’ concerns and collaborating to provide appropriate responses. Taylor notes that she once responded to 746 emails on teacher pensions & benefits in one day!

She also remembers her feelings from a brief meeting with Senator John Hoffman in the fall of 2023 after touring the Capitol and viewing portraits of previous governors. Senator Hoffman gave her a quick history lesson about past governors and showed her a hearing room. That interaction was her first impression of a local politician and sparked her interest in interning with the Senate. With that initial emotional impression of a state legislator, Taylor is thankful that Senator and Mrs. Hoffman are recovering from their tragic assassination attempt in 2025.

Moving forward in her pursuit of social justice advocacy, Taylor is now enrolled full-time at Metro State, working towards a BA in Advocacy & Political Leadership. Alongside her full-time studies, Taylor works part-time and has a new internship with U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar. Although Taylor prefers state and local government over the federal level, she values Senator Klobuchar’s bipartisan approach. She also appreciates elected officials who do not ignore the people’s voice and serve others warmly, as Senator Klobuchar describes in her book, The Joy of Politics.

Although Taylor enjoys working in politics, her passion leads her toward becoming a Prosecution Attorney. After earning her BA from Metro State, she plans to take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), hoping to gain admission to UofM Law School despite its low 28% acceptance rate. With her resilience and support from two elected officials who previously served in the legal field, Taylor is excited and hopeful about pursuing her passion for social justice.