09/15/2026
By the time Taylor Bloom enrolled in Laurel Ridge Community College, he was continuing a long-standing family tradition. Taylor and his twin, Michael, were just 14 when they enrolled at the college in 2009.
The boys had been homeschooled up until that point. All three of their older brothers had also attended Laurel Ridge.
“Once we got to high-school age, we needed some higher-level classes, so we ended up dual enrolling,” explained Taylor, a New York-based actor about to make his primetime television debut.
He especially enjoyed his English classes with Professor Brent Kendrick, who he called “a total legend.”
“I also remember really enjoying my history classes with Professor [Jonathan] Noyalas,” Taylor said, adding other favorites included English with Professor Emerita Elizabeth Guilano and Business with her husband, Professor Emeritus James Guiliano. “I remember them all very well and have fond memories of my classes.”
One particularly meaningful experience was the alternative spring break trip he and his brother embarked upon to assist Habitat for Humanity in the St. Petersburg-Clearwater area of Florida, led by now-Communications Professor Sarah Pangle.
“We had a really good time on that trip,” Taylor said. “I remember Sarah Pangle as a really infectious woman with positive energy. It was really cool.”
The brothers were young teens when they first started taking classes at Laurel Ridge. Taylor describes Michael as being “very, very smart,” a student who breezed through “some pretty high-level courses as a 14-year-old.”
“It requires a lot of work to maintain a course schedule like we were doing, and I think it’s helped me, being sort of an artistic creative person who writes things, as well as being in acting to have read as much as we read,” he said. “It felt like we were always in an English class, which was so helpful in my line of work.”
Upon graduating from Laurel Ridge in 2013 with his associate degree in General Studies, Taylor transferred to Shenandoah University and earned his bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts-Acting. Michael graduated the same year with the same degree, transferred to the University of Virginia and now works in finance in Seattle.
Taylor’s BFA program had very specific core curriculum requirements, but he was able to transfer some of his Laurel Ridge credits into Shenandoah.
“It just took a little bit of pressure out of my schedule,” he said. “My time at Laurel Ridge was really productive and fulfilling. Pretty much everyone who I encountered there was always very kind, very warm and wanted to help the whole student body learn and develop, which was above and beyond. You want it to be like that, but so many places aren’t. It really is a great place to go to school.”
Taylor and Michael were heavily involved with Wi******er Little Theatre growing up and Taylor always knew wanted to be an actor. He moved to New York City right after his SU graduation.
“I couldn’t see myself doing anything else, and I really tried to imagine a life where I was taking a more traditional path – and I couldn’t even picture it,” said Taylor. “I couldn’t find any way to be invested in anything but the arts. It probably would’ve been a lot easier if I could have figured out how to do that.”
This fall, he is starring in the NBC drama “Line of Fire” with Peter Krause and Hope Davis about a family of federal law enforcement officers. It premieres at 10 p.m., Monday, Sept. 21, on NBC.
“I really couldn’t be more excited,” said Taylor. “It’s really sort of the first really major step of my career, and it’s a long time coming. It really feels good to have something like this as a notch on my belt. It’s such an exciting project and the team that I get to work with – it’s been well worth the wait.”
His first job after arriving in New York was a traveling tour of The Simon and Garfunkel Story.
“It was a great job for me coming out of college and a few years after,” Taylor said.
He has also hosted a podcast and was in a 2022 episode of “American Horror Story.”
Taylor’s father, Ralph Bloom, said the new TV show is a “tremendous” opportunity for Taylor.
“Homeschooling, community college, Shenandoah, are all part of that matriculation, to reaching a point where he is now in a position to do something that he’s always wanted to do,” he said. “He’s quite serious, quite talented.”
All of his sons are hardworking, according to Ralph. He had recently spoken to Christopher, who shared that his favorite professors at Laurel Ridge included Noyalas, Ramon Selove, Steve Wisecarver, James Brumbaugh, Joseph Whitehorne and Thomas Tredon.
“He didn’t have to think about it,” Ralph said. “He remembered them all.”
Christopher graduated from Fordham University and is a professional dancer and choreographer. Daniel Bloom graduated from Full Sail University and owns a video production company with his wife. The fifth brother, Joseph, graduated from James Madison University and spent a couple of years working as a data analyst at Laurel Ridge, and continues to work in the data field.
Ralph Bloom said he was very happy with the experiences his sons had at the college.
“I can remember them talking about certain classes,” he said. “At one point, they decided they wanted to do some evening classes. Those tended to be populated by working adults. It was a novelty for the faculty and for their fellow students [to have such young classmates]. I think it contributed largely to their being able to deal with people from all walks of life.”
Not only was their experience at Laurel Rige “very positive,” according to Ralph, it was also “unique.”
“It was definitely a family experience because we were all involved,” he said. “They all seemed to flourish. I’m sure their mother would agree that this was an excellent transitional experience for them.”
Mary Bloom was in definite agreement with her husband.
“Our family was very fortunate to live quite close to Laurel Ridge,” she said. “At the junction of their learning at home and getting close to the necessity of finding a place for our sons to be exposed to a level of higher learning, Laurel Ridge was the perfect place to find the flexibility we needed and to prepare them for the next level of their education. They have all found their appropriate and individual occupations.”
