Meet the Class of 2021: Writer Seeks Connection with Community
Date published: August 25, 2017
Muriel Bailey, BA ’21, didn’t have a typical high school job. Instead, she worked
as an undercover youth agent for the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction
Services, supervised by federal and state agents. Being homeschooled meant that she
could work during normal school and business hours, testing the compliance of vendors
with their tobacco licenses by trying to purchase tobacco products as a minor — without
using a fake ID or misrepresenting her age. She would then complete paperwork detailing
the results of the attempts. She worked in this job for about seven months, at which
point she turned 18, so she was no longer a minor and could no longer be employed
in that position.
Bailey comes from a University of Dallas legacy family: her parents, Rebecca (Wolfe)
Bailey, BA ’98, and Robert Bailey, BA ’97, met at and both graduated from UD, as did
several of her aunts and uncles; additionally, Professor of Politics Christopher Wolfe
is her grandfather.
“I decided on UD for the community, strong religious identity and education,” said
Bailey. “The sunny weather and nearby family are just a bonus!”
Bailey enjoys reading and writing — in fact, she’s participated in National Novel
Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), in which she managed to write 20,000 words of a novel in
30 days (Nov. 1-30 annually); she hopes to workshop the novel as time allows. Other
high school interests and activities comprised a spectrum of pursuits, including volunteering
as a teacher’s aide for a second-grade Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) class,
taking both Krav Maga (a type of military self-defense and fighting system) and piano
lessons, participating in two theater productions her senior year and helping her
sister as a crew member to produce a commercial for a video contest.
Listening to music and watching movies are favorite pastimes of Bailey’s, Italian
and dance both ongoing interests. While she thinks she might major in English like
her mother, she doesn’t have specific plans for after graduation quite yet; she expects
that her experiences over the next four years will help give her clearer ideas and
shape her path.
“I'm looking forward most to the people, experiences and opportunities: getting to
know students, professors, staff and possibly alumni; participating in Dallas Year
and the celebration of Groundhog Day together; and growing in my faith, my mind and
my person as a whole,” said Bailey.
