About

Keeping in Step

Lynchburg Campus graduate Brandy Taylor, who completed her associate degree program in business administration– management at the end of 2007, is only in her twenties, yet has accumulated a wealth of experience that few people here age could manage.

Not only has she been involved in her family ministry, Cornerstone Church in Lynchburg, since high school, she has also nurtured a career as an aspiring dancer, focusing on a variety of styles from ballet to modern to even aerobics and fitness. Currently working as administration assistant and co-owner of the church, she also leads a dance ministry.

There’s a lot of things I’ve learned and been able to apply.

“I’ve done almost everything you can possibly do in church ministry,” she says confidently. Acknowledging that there is a lot more to running a church than most people realize, she’s able to put her education to work in many ways. But she enjoys her management role the most. “Probably just the opportunity to work with people,” is what she describes as the most rewarding aspect of her job. “The opportunity to be a leader, to be thrown out there.”

Brandy came to National looking for the skills that would enable her to take an active role in running the church’s affairs. “We looked around, and we knew National was one of the colleges here in Lynchburg that was more…hands-on,” she says. “There’s a lot of things I’ve learned and been able to apply.”

In particular, accounting and computing skills are very useful. “One of the best classes I enjoyed here [at National] was accounting,” she acknowledges. Her training gives her the confidence and knowledge to work with three outside accountants in managing the ministry’s financial affairs. And while like many young people today, she was familiar with computers before coming to National, getting beyond the basics was an important step. “One of the biggest things [was] to be able to really know what everything means when you open up a program…whatever my father, as my boss, threw at me, I was able to say ‘Oh, I can do that!’”

Whatever…my boss threw at me, I was able to say ‘Oh, I can do that!’

In the back of her mind, however, Brandy has big plans for herself. “I’m leaning toward taking another step in my dance career,” she says, continuing, “where business also helps, because I want to own my own studio one day.”

We know wherever the music leads her in the dance of life, Brandy will always be able to count on the skills and knowledge that she got from National College to be successful!