You’ve probably seen her face somewhere on Carnegie Mellon’s website. She’s shown up numerous times on the Tartan’s athletics page and she’s all over the campus bookstore website. As a dedicated member of Carnegie Mellon’s Cross Country and Track teams, as well as a Biology major with a minor in Art, it’s a wonder Taylor Maggiacomo has time to take pictures at all.
Taylor began her running career at Carnegie Mellon as a freshman last year. As one of the main contributors to the success of the women’s team, she helped lead the Tartans to their third-place finish at the UAA’s (the team’s best finish in 10 years). She was consistently one of the top scorers throughout the season, and she hopes to continue her success this year with a new group of freshmen in the lineup. Taylor currently takes time out of her busy schedule each day for a two-hour-long cross country practice, where she regularly runs upwards of seven miles a day. Taylor admits that “daily practices are definitely tough, especially when we do workouts on 90 degree days!” But although some practices have been less than enjoyable, she is looking forward to the season ahead and believes that “as long as we keep working hard, the pain will definitely pay off.” In fact, it already has. The Tartans raced their first meet of the season on Saturday, August 31st. Once again, Taylor proved that she was a force to be reckoned with, placing second for her team and 44th overall with a time of 20:57. Everyone is definitely excited to see what else she’ll accomplish this season.
Along with her busy practice schedule, Taylor also balances a challenging and unique course load. Her Biology major keeps her occupied with chemistry, biochemistry and physics classes. But many people don’t know about Taylor’s passion for art. As an artist since elementary school, she now hopes to incorporate this passion into her career goals. She is currently pursuing a minor in Art, and has just begun taking classes in Carnegie Mellon’s College of Fine Arts. She explains that “art is what keeps me sane through all of the school work. It’s a great stress-reliever, and it’s something I’ll always have since there are no rules or right answers.” Throughout the semester, her science courses will be punctuated by figure drawing, portraiture, perspective and media experimentation. She’s very excited to be taking art classes, and hopes to use her distinctive skill set to attain a medical illustration internship this summer.
In addition to sports and classes, Taylor is also very involved in extracurricular activities. She is currently planning a 5K race for Engineers Without Borders to help raise money for their multiple projects outside of the US. She is also a member of DOCS (Doctors of Carnegie Society), where she hopes to become a chair member for Advertising and Promotion. On top of that, Taylor is also thinking about joining one of CMU’s sororities this semester. With all this on her plate, it seems like there’s nothing she can’t do. If Taylor’s already made a name for herself after one year at Carnegie Mellon, there’s no telling what she’ll accomplish next.