Payton graduated from Carnegie Vanguard High School where she served as editor-in-chief of her yearbook and a head leader on her senior activities committee. During her senior year, she was the print and online editor for the Chronicle Classroom Internship at the Houston Chronicle. She wrote and edited news stories, attended and covered events happening in the Houston area.

As a Girl Scout of 12 years, during a summer internship at THI, she partnered with a team of dedicated individuals in the Women’s Center and Regenerative Medicine Research and Cardiovascular Surgery Research Departments to create an interactive touch box to educate children about their heart and the importance of having a healthy heart. The touch box included hearts from several animals and key facts about each animal.  She donated this museum touch box project, Comparative Anatomy of the Heart, to the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s Eco Labs for students and visiting schools to use. Payton also created an educational video explaining the different items in the touch box that can be used in anatomy and heart health classes for kids.