taylor f. cook

I was little when my mom taught me how to braid. Now, the familiar grasp of three strands of hair feels slick against my skin – a tactile reminder of connection, identity, and continuity. I think of my journalism in the same way: an act of gathering and binding, of connecting voices and narratives together. I enjoy writing stories that focus on the environment, culture, people, and places.

I graduated with a Master of Science at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in 2026, where I focused on narrative nonfiction, culture writing, and environmental news. My favorite projects were a long-form feature using the story of a third-generation butcher to explore craft and survival within an industrialized meat economy and a reported cultural history of Sandy Ground, one of the nation’s oldest free Black communities, centering questions of intergenerational preservation. 

tHesis

At Santa Clara University, I earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and media studies with minors in creative writing and French. I wrote for The Santa Clara on biweekly deadlines and evaluated submissions weekly as a member of the Santa Clara Review’s editorial board. At the newspaper, I focused on campus life and culture, wellness and health services, and the university’s response to social challenges. My time on the editorial board taught me what it means to edit for structure and style without flattening what makes a piece distinctive. 

interests

mission

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