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Grateful for the opportunity a scholarship gave her to attend East Tennessee State University, Taylor Laymon has spent her time on campus using that support as a springboard for service and impact.

The junior from Kodak, Tennessee, came to ETSU on a Global Citizenship scholarship to major in biomedical engineering technology and minor in math. During her time at ETSU, she has earned other scholarships for study abroad and marching band.

“I was pretty set on the idea of going to a community college and not doing the university experience,” Laymon said. “But I had a friend who applied for the Roan Scholars Leadership Program, and while she was actively looking into that, I found the Global Citizen Scholars Program. I decided to apply just on a whim, not with any confidence that I would actually get in. I ended up being invited to an interview, and to my surprise, made it into the program.”

The rest is history for Laymon, who has poured herself into ways to give back to the ETSU community that welcomed her.

She has served on the Student Government Association, writing legislation for important campus initiatives such as support for Bucky’s Food Pantry. She is an Expedition Leader, taking prospective students and their families on campus tours and sharing the highlights of her ETSU experience.

One of those highlights happened last fall when Laymon marched with the ETSU Marching Bucs in the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. ETSU was the first collegiate marching band from Tennessee to be invited to perform in the parade in more than 60 years.

“Getting to march in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was an unforgettable experience,” she said.

So, when an opportunity arose for Laymon to serve on the ETSU Student Foundation Ambassadors (SFA) — a new student-volunteer organization that empowers student leaders to spread the spirit of philanthropy among their peers, alumni and donors — she was excited to help.

The ETSU Foundation Board of Directors approved the creation of the SFA, a group of student leaders who will help educate their peers about the positive impact of alumni and donor support.

“I would describe the Student Foundation Ambassadors as the ETSU Foundation’s way of connecting with students,” Laymon said. “I just feel like a lot of what my ETSU experience has contained has been things that have only happened because of donors.”

One of the first jobs of the SFA members was to help promote Forever ETSU, a week of giving and gratitude held April 21-27. Throughout the week, donors are invited to support any ETSU fund(s) of their choosing, helping ensure that the university continues its mission of education, innovation and outreach. The week includes a Student Day on Thursday, April 24, which Laymon and the other SFA members are helping promote across campus.

For Laymon, it’s all about paying it forward for future ETSU students and the community she will serve.

She plans to graduate in spring 2026 and pursue a master’s degree in orthotics and prosthetics or a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering so that she can work for a clinic or nonprofit that builds prosthetics.

“Multiple people in the Honors College have taught me that it’s so important to give back and that it’s so important to grow the area that you were raised in by what you have learned from it, so I think that coming back to Sevierville or Johnson City and working in a clinic would be just an amazing impact that I’d love to make,” Laymon said.

“I’m thankful for the career that ETSU is setting me up with and the connections they are allowing me to make. Donor support has 100% changed my ETSU experience.”