ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Helping people smile with more confidence is something Taylor Ryals, a senior at Robertsdale High, would like to make a career of. It’s not that she’s running for Miss Popularity, but rather that she would like to study to become an orthodontist after graduation from RHS and her four-year university.

“When I was in the sixth grade I got braces,” Ryals said, “and I thought they were to coolest thing. Ever since then I’ve wanted to become a dentist, and especially an orthodontist. The braces really helped me a lot.”

Although Ryals is considering the University of Alabama for her under-graduate studies, she said she would probably go where she got the best offer in order to save her parents, Dale and Leigh Ann Ryals of Rosinton, as much money as she could. She feels that UAB will be her best bet for dental school.

“I made a 26 on the ACT, but I would like to take it again and try to bump my score up some,” she said. “The better the score the more money you can receive in scholarships.”

Ryals is currently maintaining a 4.26 grade point average and is currently ranked in a tie for fourth in her class. What makes her attractive to a number of colleges is her involvement at the high school level. Such involvement shows she is not only a well rounded person, but such activities can lead to leadership scholarships in addition to academic ones.

“I’m a member of the National Honor Society, where I serve as treasurer, the RHS Student Government Association, where I’m the treasurer there as well, Mu Alpha Theta, which is a math organization, the Astronomy Club, the Health Occupations Students of America, and the National Technical Honor Society,” she said.

Ryals has also hit the triple crown of campus religious organizations as she is a member of Pulse, First Priority, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

“I try to be as active as I can in my church, which is Bay Community Church in Malbis,” she said. “Our youth group is known as Icon, and I love doing things with them.”

An avid snow skier since the age of seven, Ryals is no stranger to the black slopes, which are ranked as the hardest, and are normally skied by those at the professional level.

“My family and I have been to Vale, Breckenridge, Keystone, Winter Park, and Steamboat Springs,” she said. “As I am an only child I don’t have to worry about keeping up with older or younger siblings so I can ski where I want to.”

Ryals said her dream is to own a chalet on some ski slope in Colorado. Should she realize her goal to become an orthodontist that dream could come to fruition, especially if she were to practice dentistry out West.

“I cheered as a freshman, but beginning my sophomore year I switched to the tennis team where I now play in the number one position in both singles and doubles,” she said. “Although I would love to play at the collegiate level, I don’t think my abilities are near that level.”

In addition to skiing, Ryals also enjoys surfing whenever she is in Jacksonville, Florida.

“The Gulf just doesn’t have the waves the Atlantic does,” she said, “unless there’s a hurricane out there somewhere.”

Ryals credits her success at the high school level with having learned to prioritize her time early in life.

“I know that if I have to do something, then I need to take care of it right then and there if possible,” she said. “It keeps the pressure to produce to a minimum, and helps me to enjoy my senior year.”

Ryals said one of her favorite teachers was Donna Boswell, who teaches advanced English.

“I know I’ll probably have to write quite a bit in college,” she said, “but I’ll be ready, because of what Mrs. Boswell has taught me. She really pushes us, but I know that in the long run it’ll be worth it.”

At RHS there are two main campus sponsored dances; homecoming and prom.

“I would love to get a bunch of my fellow seniors together and go take lessons in swing dancing,” Ryals said. “I think that would be so much fun. Sure, its how our grandparents danced back in the Big Band era, but things have a way of coming around again. You really have to know what you are doing in order to do it right.”