From 'flunking out' to 4.0: Orange Gown graduate succeeds while balancing career, family and academics

Thursday, December 11, 2025

Media Contact: Aaron Campbell | OSU-Tulsa Communications Coordinator | 918-594-8046 | aaron.ross.campbell@okstate.edu

Stephen Taylor is the fall 2025 Orange Gown graduate for the College of Professional Studies — but academic success didn’t come easy at first

 At the start, Stephen Taylor’s story might sound familiar. Fresh out of high school and straight to college without a firm plan, he didn’t do well with his first attempt at higher education.

“When I first went to college, it was just kind of an obligation — something I felt like I had to do, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do yet,” Taylor said. “I didn’t go to class, I was fighting depression, it was not a good time period for me. I was kind of in denial that year. So I got kicked out, rightfully so, I flunked out.”

He worked odd jobs for years, everything from fast food to bagging , but the lack of professional fulfillment was draining for him.

Over the years, he tried to go back to school — a semester here, a year there — but found he couldn’t graduate with an associate’s degree because of his academic past.

“Those grades on my record have kind of been chasing me this whole time,” he said. “Even after working on it for all those years, those 10 or 12 F’s were holding me back.”

By 2021, Taylor was in a career field he enjoyed, working in banking and teaching others about financial literacy — but he still felt held back from advancing his career by his lack of a degree.

“I am much further along than I should be without a bachelor’s degree, so I thought ‘I really need to get this done.’”

He enrolled in Tulsa Community College (TCC), taking enough classes to boost his GPA until he could graduate with an associate degree in Business Administration. From there, he didn’t slow down, transferring to OSU-Tulsa last year to pursue a Bachelor of Professional Studies degree in Organizational Leadership. The program’s flexibility was a big draw for Taylor, who completed his degree entirely online.

“It’s geared towards working professionals who are in exactly my situation — folks that work full-time, have family obligations and young kids, but want to pursue that degree,” he said. “All of the course content, especially from the College of Professional Studies, is really relevant to my career. These are things that I’m using every single day, like the communications skills within an organization or my management ethics class. I was a lot more excited to go do the reading in those classes versus other classes in the past.”

Beyond the program’s flexibility and professional relevance, Taylor lauded the online class infrastructure and the ability to save money by utilizing digital textbooks from the OSU-Tulsa Library. He also credits his advisor for helping eliminate those old F’s off his record, and pointing him towards engaging classes he wouldn’t have thought to take before.

“I took a meteorology class as an elective to finish out my 60 hours. I would have never considered that without a push, but I’ve really enjoyed it.”

Taylor took 60 credit hours of classes over the course of three semesters to earn his bachelor’s, getting straight A’s in the process — a confidence-boosting feat that will stick with him long after walking the graduation stage.

“Obviously having that degree on my resume is a big unlocking move that's going to open up a lot of doors for me professionally,” Taylor said. “But just in terms of my awareness of my own abilities and my own self-confidence, being able to come to Oklahoma State and maintain a 4.0 for the duration of being a student here, and graduating with that GPA seemed like, ‘pie in the sky’ a few years ago — and it was really attainable.”

Not only did he earn a 4.0 GPA and the Orange Gown distinction for the College of Professional Studies in those three semesters, he did it all while working full-time while raising three children alongside his wife, who is also restarting her academic journey.

“My wife, she’s going back to school as well. We really inspired each other,” he said. “She’s making a big career change and moving into nursing. So part of the urgency for me was to get this done so she can be a full-time student as well.”

Taylor is already charging forward with career momentum, starting a new position this month and setting his sights on further education.

“Next, I think I really want to go to grad school,” he said. “I applied for a program here at OSU, but I’ve also thought, ‘maybe I want to go to law school.’ I’m just enjoying having my options open.”

“I’m just grateful to Oklahoma State University for giving me this opportunity, and I’m proud of myself for maximizing it.”