Name: Kaylynn Toomey
Year: Junior
Major: Political Science and Interdisciplinary Social Science
Her Campus (HC): Have you always been interested in politics?
Kaylynn Toomey (KT): Yeah for sure, since I was literally four years old. I was the kid that went around saying, “I want to be President of the United States.” I was actually talking to my mom the other day and she was saying, “I prepared you for this.” She tried to make it into this scheme that she got me involved in politics, but like, no mom.
HC: It’s awesome that you’ve always had a love for it. Do you see anything developing from that passion?
KT: I don’t want to run for elected office or anything like that. I think when I was growing up it was this limited idea of politics like, “Yeah I want to run for president,” and that was my idea of politics. But what’s interesting is in high school I became interested in environmental sustainability and I thought I’d go into environmental policy, so I applied to FSU as an environmental science major but I ended up switching before I came to college to political science instead. I found that this way I can still affect change through politics but through different ways, and I’m not so entirely focused on one thing.
HC: So we now know you’re interested in environmental issues, but what else sparks your interest?
KT: Really any kind of social justice; racial justice, economic justice, diversity and inclusion within the work place, school environments, gender equality, etc. There’s just so much! Growing up, I saw a lot of issues within my community since I grew up in a low income area. My dad wasn’t able to get healthcare because he had a heart attack in his early 30s, seeing all those issues and hearing so much on TV about things that actually affect me just makes me think that there can be policies that can make my life and those around me better. So that’s my main thing now, issue-based advocacy focusing on all of those different social justice issues.
HC: Alright now, you’re crazy involved on campus, tell me about the different groups you belong to.
KT: Right now I’m in the NAACP, which actually originally started as an anti-lynching group, but have grown into a civil rights organization for people of color. I’m also in the Women Student Union and I’ve met a lot of amazing women through this organization. It’s really cool to see the intersectionality of feminism and touch on different issues that affect women. I also do a lot of volunteering, so right now I’m working with PeaceJam Southeast, which brings in 400 high school students and they learn about social justice issues at a two day conference—so I’m actually doing a workshop there about economic inequality.
HC: What kind of work do you within the NAACP?
KT: I’m the political action co-chair and we do a lot of education about the issues within our community. This year, we are also really focused on establishing a relationship with the Tallahassee community at large, so recently we went to a gathering called Conversation on Race and basically it was different community members from around Tallahassee talking about the issues that Tallahassee faces. One topic was economic segregation, which then includes racial segregation as well as a few other issues, and then within the NAACP we try to take some of those things back to campus. We want to assist in helping people think about those issues and want to work with them in affecting change because when you think about it, we truly are the leaders of now, not tomorrow.
HC: It’s now March, which is Women’s history month. Tell me about your role within the Women Student Union.
KT: Yes, it is Women’s History Month and it’s so exciting! So within the organization, I am the Political Education Director, so I have a similar role here as I do in NAACP. I bring in a lot of women leaders, such as Commissioner Nancy Miller. She is currently the only woman who sits on the City Commission. I also brought in Pam Keith who is the first African American woman to run for U.S. Senate in Florida. It’s awesome to hear from such inspiring women.
HC: Does WSU have big plans for this month?
KT: If you follow FSU Women Student on Facebook or Instagram we actually just posted our calendar for this month! So you should definitely check that out. Our pillars for the month are, “Building, Branding and Becoming” and it’s also how we’re breaking this month down. On March 14 and 15 you can catch us in the Augusta Conradi Theatre for a performance of The Vagina Monologues. We’ve got a lot going on but it’ll be exciting.
HC: You’re a busy bee!
KT: Yeah that’s for sure, but I don’t know what I would do with myself if I wasn’t busy though. I like what I do because I know it’s making a difference even if just a small amount. My philosophy on life is to always make yourself happy and others happy and I feel like I can’t do one without doing the other.