Before he made it to Oakland University and found his passion for Film Studies and Production, Tayion Williams grew up on the east side of Detroit. During his time at Cass Technical High School, Williams studied graphic design. Although he displays high academic prowess in his studies at OU through his love of filmmaking, Williams initially struggled to find his strengths in school.
“I was a terrible student in high school,” Williams said. “I did the bare minimum to get by. [Throughout college], I’ve really turned my grades around, and I’ve loved every part of filmmaking and every aspect of it.”
One driving force that helped push Williams to improve himself and ultimately led him to apply for the Keeper of the Dream Scholarship is VaNessa Thompson, CORE coordinator and a member of the Center of Multicultural Initiatives (CMI), whom Williams met when he first started at OU.
“Compared to my high school where I was by far in the [racial] majority, it was a real culture shock,” Williams said. “She helped me a lot when it came to getting acclimated on campus. She helped me spread my wings and be more vocal and active on campus.”
While the process of applying for the Keeper of the Dream Scholarship requires each candidate to complete numerous steps, Williams explained that the most important part of the process happens at the beginning.
“A big part of it is that I feel like a lot of people skip over the initial paper just because it’s so short you think nothing of it,” Williams said. “It’s a really good opportunity to sell yourself to these people who may not have ever heard of you.”
Although he was denied the scholarship last year, Williams was able to apply again with a tip that pushed him forward.
“I’d say if you don’t get it, don’t get discouraged,” Williams said. “It might not be your time, but your time will come along as long as you don’t give up.”
For Williams, he embodies the spirit of the Keeper of the Dream Award because of his late mother, and the lessons she taught him.
“Dr. King said it best, ‘Judge people not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,’” Williams said. “My mother used to always tell me, ‘Don’t judge people by their worst mistake but by their greatest achievement.’ So instead of seeing the bad in somebody or the negative in a situation, always be a glass-half-full type of person. I try my hardest every day to be better than I was before and to give everybody a fair shot.”
Although he still has a year left before graduation, Williams’ plan once he graduates from OU is to get a job on campus, working with videography and marketing to gain more experience. Eventually, he would like to move to Toronto and eventually live out his dream of working on festival programming for the Toronto International Film Festival.
