The Harvard Crimson COMMENCEMENT 2023
Grace Taylor Succeeds Amid Cancer Battle COURTESY OF HARVARD ATHLETICS
By SYDNEY E. FARNHAM
E
CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
arlier this month, Harvard women’s lacrosse’s sophomore defender Grace A. Taylor ’25 earned her second All-Ivy Honorable Mention accolade as a key member of the defense that led the Crimson to the Ivy League women’s lacrosse tournament. Impressive, yes, but even more impressive is how Taylor was using her stick as a cane less than six months earlier. The Dedham, Mass. native is the middle of three children, a family of avid athletes. Her mother played collegiate lacrosse and while it wasn’t her favorite growing up, Taylor was enticed by the speed and ag-
gression of the game she now loves. When deciding where she would further her lacrosse career, she was drawn to the culture head coach Devon Wills was building
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at Harvard. “I wanted to be part of a team that was like creating a new standard. And then I
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also have a younger sister, so I really wanted to be close to her. I wanted her to be able to come to my games and to be part of her life as well,” Taylor said. Having her family close would prove to be indispensable when last August — less than an hour before fulfilling her duties of a Peer Advising Fellow to the class of 2026 at first year orientation — Taylor was diagnosed with an aggressive variant of papillary thyroid cancer. She had been sent by her primary care physician to Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) after they discovered swelling in her thyroid at a routine visit. Taylor had prior experience with injuries, but there is no game plan for a Division I student-athlete battling cancer. Following her diagnoses were countless medical decisions to be made. For most people, the easier choice would be
to step away from school and sports and focus on their health. Instead, Taylor leaned into her communities for support, remaining enrolled for her sophomore fall. “People thought I was crazy. They told me I was crazy, but I think it was like, I knew if I came home, I would be so wrapped up in my own like misery and like pain,” commented Taylor when asked about the decision. “ I think it was like partially the distraction and then it was like a big part was being part of my team. And I wanted to fight to be able to compete again.” In mid-September, Taylor underwent two procedures to have the cancer and metastasis removed. After being bedridden for two weeks postoperatively, she commuted to Cambridge. While there were certainly moments when she doubted her-
