USD Magazine Summer 2021

B A R B A R A F E R G U S O N

[ f o r t i t u d e ]

ometimes there isn’t a roadmap forward. For Cailyn Ann Teague ’21 Ca i l yn Ann Teague i s i n a l eague o f he r own by Allyson Meyer ’16 (BA), ’21 (MBA) S S U P E R H E R O , A C T I V A T E !

older honorary sister Camille and her friends Zoe and Stephanie for getting her to the point where she’s embraced the disorder. “It was scary at first,” she ad- mits. “I didn’t know anything about it. They taught me it’s really awesome. They recognized me for me.” Focusing on the positive is what drives Teague to claim au- tism as her superpower; especial- ly because she sees it as some- thing that’s played a prominent role in her educational path. “I’m really academically focused. It helps me a lot with my memory, with concentration,” she says. “I can be in a zone for a very long time and basically tune out everything around me. I can stay studying for hours at a time on the same subject without get- ting bored. It’s what helps me a lot in school.”

Since she was 9 years old, Teague has known she wanted to become a prosecutor, moti- vated by her interest in law and her desire to help others. Access to faculty members in the USD School of Law — as well as the chance to observe a law class — made USD the right school for her. In fall 2019, Teague officially became a Torero. Much to the amazement of faculty and fellow students, Teague is set to gradu- ate this May, earning her under- graduate degree in only two years.

This is made even more remark- able by the fact that the 19-year- old Teague is one of only two USD non-transfer students, ever, to have earned an undergraduate degree in just two years. What does she credit for this success? “My superpower is my Autism Spectrum Disorder,” says Teague, who was diagnosed with the dis- order during her senior year of high school. “I have this super- power and it’s really cool.” Teague credits the support she received early on from her

(BA), that’s not a barrier, but rather, an opportunity to chart her own path. Pursuing a political science major with minors in psychology and economics from the Univer- sity of San Diego, Teague’s edu- cational achievement is admira- ble if one were to stop there. However, this native San Diegan raised the bar with the determi- nation she’s exhibited in achiev- ing this success.

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