With her dark makeup and quirky personality, it’s no surprise that Kaitlynn Turner grew up on a goat farm in South Austin. Ever since high school, she’s loved to write and she’s been told she’s good at it.

“All my teachers told me ‘you need to go to school for writing,’” Kaitlynn said.

After growing up on the farm with her grandparents and dad, Kaitlynn eventually moved to Kyle, Texas for high school where she was able to graduate early. She then started classes at Austin Community College while working 50-60 hour weeks at a call center. Trying to balance a full work week with classes wasn’t working for Kaitlynnn. She had a 1.5 GPA and kept dropping classes until she decided to quit school and just focus on work.

“It was not happening for me,” she said.

Her grandparents begged her to quit her call center job, so along with their help she did and enrolled in Texas State full time.

“I felt engaged in college for the first time,” Kaitlynn said. “There is a sense of community.”

She felt inspired by writing again and decided to pursue creative advertising. Soon, she brought her 1.5 GPA up to a 3.9 and was writing again for the first time in five years. While it took her awhile to get there, she’s a step ahead of most college students because she knows what fuels her passion.

“People look at me like a dinosaur because I’m 23 and a junior,” Kaitlynn said. “But nothing brings me greater joy than connecting with people and trying new things.”

Kaitlynn is on track to graduate Texas State in the Spring of 2023, and she knows she wants to live in a city somewhere.

“There’s a part of me that wants to end up back in Austin,” she said. “I just know I want to have a house somewhere with my cat where I can write.”

Student Profile: Kaitlynn Turner