With an interest in health and creative writing, MacKenzie Taylor, of Milford, is pursuing both at Middlesex Community College. In addition to taking writing courses, she is combining her passion for helping others with a long-term fascination of anatomy and medicine to jumpstart a career in Radiologic Technology.

“My mom was really sick while I was growing up, so I grew very comfortable with the concept of taking care of people regardless of what health scare it was,” Taylor said. “My baby sister has had five open heart surgeries as well, and I think having people on her team who really love what they do made it so much less terrifying. I want to be the person people encounter during these vulnerable moments and feel like they truly are in good hands.”

MCC’s Rad Tech program was an affordable option for Taylor, as well as helped many students successfully enter the field. She started the program in Fall 2023 nervous, excited and curious for the upcoming semester. So far, she has found supportive and knowledgeable professors and classmates, and she is looking forward to seeing all of the different opportunities available to her.

“There is something really great about how much I feel I am being challenged. We started clinicals the second week – and as intimidating as it has been – I love connecting with patients and being the face of someone who is really trying to help them.” - MacKenzie Taylor, MCC Student

Viewing her experience in the Rad Tech program as learning a new language, she has covered a lot of material and started her clinicals in just a few weeks. Though the program is pushing her on a physical, mental and academic level, she feels the work will be worth it in the end.

“Radiology is such an amazing field and I am really just focused on learning and using what I learn to help people,” she said. “There is something really great about how much I feel I am being challenged. We started clinicals the second week – and as intimidating as it has been – I love connecting with patients and being the face of someone who is really trying to help them.”

Taylor started at Middlesex by completing prerequisite courses to prepare her to enter the health program. One of the classes was Creative Writing and Publishing, taught by Tom Laughlin, MCC’s Creative Writing Program Coordinator and Professor. After being encouraged to submit her work, Taylor’s poem “failing at forgiveness smells like cigarettes” was published in the Lyrical Somerville column of The Somerville Times.

In addition to 10 previous poems published, Taylor’s work can also be found in MCC’s online literary magazine The Dead River Review, for which she was a member of the Spring 2023 editorial board. She credits her two MCC writing professors – Laughlin and Joseph Nardoni – for helping to influence her approach to her craft, as well as increase her confidence.

In her classes and activities at MCC, Taylor has shown how much she enjoys helping others, including as a writing tutor for the Academic Centers for Enrichment. Even in sharing her writing, Taylor is looking to connect with others, although it feels difficult at times.

“I think it is important to write about the things that I do regardless of how raw and heavy they can be,” she said. “I write a lot about things that are very personal to me, but that vulnerability is what I adore about poetry.”