Monogram Club Spotlight: Taylor Emery

An extended adventure brought Taylor Emery to Virginia Tech to play basketball. Even though her basketball career is over, that adventure isn’t over yet.

“I remember being young and telling people, ‘I want to be a professional basketball player and a veterinarian,'” Emery said. “They always ask ‘How would you do it?’ and I said back “I don’t know, I’ll find out!”

To the credit of young Taylor Emery, she figured it out.

“After I got into a junior college, I chose between four different schools that had veterinary programs,” says Emery. “I chose Virginia Tech because it was a great fit for me in terms of basketball and it also got me into a really good veterinary program afterwards.”

Former Hokies Guardian from Tampa, Fla. Stay focused on her career after basketball even as she created a successful legacy at the Cassell Coliseum. After attending Tulane University and Gulf Coast State College, Emery was an immediate fit for a head coach Kenny BrooksBlacksburg’s plan. The outstanding shooter scored over 1,300 points in just two years as Hokie and finished with All-ACC titles in both years of her tenure.

“I actually majored in homeland security at Tulane,” says Emery, who just spent her freshman year with the Blue Wave. “I said ‘This is not what I want to do’ and when I switched to Technology, I actually earned a Creative Writing degree and pre-tested my requirements for vet school.”

Her time at Virginia Tech has motivated her to have many opportunities to play professional basketball nationally and internationally. The Minnesota Lynx invited Emery to join their training camp, and the guard played abroad in both Poland and Israel. However, she is not content with a basketball career.

“After a while, I realized it wasn’t really nourishing my heart the way I thought it would,” Emery said. “It’s been amazing and I’ve made a lot of friends in the process, but it’s not something I want to do when I’m older.”

Emery returned to school after being accepted into the prestigious Virginia-Maryland Veterinary College. Her packed schedule keeps her going to lectures and labs almost eight hours a day, but it’s all about realizing her dream in a field she’s loved since she was a child. .

“I want to work in the non-profit sector and find ways to help both people and animals,” says Emery, who also spearheads her own “MerikiTay” clothing brand, and balances it at the same time. The life of a vet student is impressive. She has three and a half years of school left before she can graduate from VAMC.

To keep up with the current Virginia Tech Women’s Basketball team, Emery finds ways in her busy schedule to stay in touch with the players and staff. She doesn’t stop studying at one of the top veterinary schools in the country, but still appreciates the staff led by Brooks.

“When I was a player, we were really close because we see each other every day. Now it’s more of an adult relationship. I don’t have to talk to the staff every day, but when I say, they make me feel at home.”

About Monogram Club
The Virginia Tech Monogram Club is a membership organization that celebrates and engages past and current letter winners through networking and fellowship events that celebrate traditions and promote the values ​​of Virginia Tech athlete-student experience. We seek to reconnect with all monogram winners in all sports and past and present sports and support area students (managers, coaches and video staff) ) at Virginia Tech and let each of these become a connected and engaged member of the Monogram Club! Honor the past, honor the present and support the future!