By: Erik Pedersen, Senior Communications Manager
BALTIMORE – Family has always been important for Taylor Bynion ’22. A native of Harford County, Maryland, Bynion knew that staying close to home would be a priority as she decided where to attend college.
Her ultimate decision to enroll at Notre Dame of Maryland University was also influenced by family members. Bynion’s aunt, Lynn Kalkowski, graduated from Notre Dame in 1998 while her grandmother, Irma, previously worked in graduate admissions, and both spoke glowingly of their time on campus.
Fast forward to the present, and the decision to attend NDMU has made Bynion the latest in her family to form a lasting connection with the school. She is a member of the School of Education’s five-year program, graduating this May with a liberal arts bachelor’s degree and completing her master’s in elementary education (early childhood specialization) next year.
The recipient of NDMU’s Educator of Promise Award at Honors Convocation last fall, Bynion was also a four-year member of the track & field team, editor-in-chief of Columns, NDMU’s student newspaper, and a member of several different honor societies.
Learn more about Bynion’s NDMU experience and her future career plans in the first of several Class of 2022 spotlights leading up to commencement on May 22:
How did you first hear about Notre Dame, and what led you to apply here?
I kind of drew a circle around my house to see what colleges were close, and Notre Dame was one that specifically stood out to me because my aunt was an alum and my grandmother had worked at the college. Then when I first went on campus, I immediately felt this incredible sense of community. Everybody was so welcoming.
I wound up visiting two or three times, and people actually remembered me. That was an experience I wasn’t having at other colleges. Hearing my grandmother and my aunt speak so highly of it, and then having that personal experience during my visits, it was absolutely everything I wanted in a college.
Did you know from the beginning that you wanted to be a teacher? What was it that drew you to the profession?
I’ve known ever since I was a kid that I wanted to be a teacher. Being a teacher and working with children is absolutely my lifelong dream. I partially picked Notre Dame because of the community feel, but Notre Dame also has an incredibly strong education program.
I’m so grateful for the education program that we have because it has allowed me to blossom. It’s allowed me to have confidence in myself that when I graduate I’m going to have all the necessary skills that I need to be a proficient teacher. It’s so important to have that confidence, so that when I walk into a classroom and I’ve got 30 students staring at me, I can take command of that classroom and make sure that those kids are receiving a proper education.
Have you had a chance to work in school settings during your time at NDMU? What has that experience been like?
One of the great things about Notre Dame is that we have a preschool (A Child’s Place) right on campus. My very first education class my freshman year, the first class I had in college, we were able to go into that preschool and do observations. That was my first classroom experience that showed how a classroom is structured, how a teacher deals with classroom management and other things like that.
I’m in an early childhood class right now, and my teacher posted videos of her teaching, so we could see the different techniques we were learning about in practice. While I haven’t done my student teaching yet, that will happen in my fifth year, I’ve certainly been very exposed to different techniques, observing other teachers and making sure that I’m on the right path to be successful.
How did it feel to receive the Educator of Promise Award at Honors Convocation last fall?
I was absolutely honored. There were two education awards presented at that convocation, and when they called my name for Educator of Promise, I got a little choked up because Notre Dame has become such a special place for me. Not just academically, but socially as well. I’ve been able to really grow in my confidence as a person and be enveloped in a community that’s so understanding.
Academically, I’ve been pushed to a level that I didn’t know was possible when I arrived. To be recognized for the amount of effort that I’m putting in for a career that I absolutely love and is my passion, it was certainly an incredible experience.
Do you have a favorite class or professor at Notre Dame?
That’s a hard question because, with the way that the five-year program is structured, we are required to take a lot of different liberal arts classes as an undergrad to help us form a well-rounded base of knowledge. Because of that, I’ve met some really awesome professors in other fields that I wouldn’t necessarily have taken if I was in another program.
I took a short fiction class with Dr. William Davis in the English Department. He had actually taught my aunt previously, and he’s absolutely incredible. He really inspires you to be fully invested in his class. I was already an English person, I love reading and writing, so to have somebody inspire me even more…who gets excited about homework? Nobody. But I was excited about doing his readings.
As far as my actual academic track for education, Professor Rosemary Poling is fantastic. She has become such a mentor for me. I want to be like her as a teacher – she has taught me so much. She’s able to have her classes structured so interactively to the point where I’m hanging on every word, and that’s the kind of teacher that I want to become.
Outside of the classroom experiences, what are some other top Notre Dame memories?
I have had the privilege of being involved with a lot of different groups at Notre Dame. One of the those that I absolutely loved was track & field. I’ve been on the track & field team since my freshman year, and because of that I’ve also served on our athletic council as a representative for the program. Being able to participate in the sport I love while still remaining school-focused has been a great opportunity for me and something that I’ve loved to be able to do.
I’m also a communications minor, and I’ve served as the editor-in-chief of our school newspaper, Columns. I had the ability to work with a lot of amazing, talented students while taking on a leadership role. I’ve also been able to join a couple of different honor societies. I’m in the philosophy, Catholic, education and athletics honor societies, and I’ve had the opportunity to do all kinds of different things with that.
What is your favorite place to visit on campus?
I adore that small Grotto that’s just down the hill from Caroline Hall. That’s my favorite study space. It’s so calm, there’s some lovely flowers down there, and I just feel like it’s such a hidden gem at Notre Dame that not a lot of students take advantage of.
What are some of your future plans after graduation?
The fifth year of my program starts this summer, so I’m kind of going straight into that. And then afterwards, I’m actually engaged right now, so my fiancé and I are looking for a house. We’re probably going to end up in staying in the area, I love being close to home and my family. I’ll end up hopefully having my own classroom relatively soon after I have my master’s. I can’t wait to find a connection with a school that I love to work for, so I can apply everything that I’ve learned at Notre Dame.
Established in 1895, Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) is a private, Catholic institution in Baltimore, Maryland, with the mission to educate leaders to transform the world. Notre Dame has been named one of the best "Regional Universities North" by U.S. News & World Report.
