Maya

Being at NMH exposed me to community and a sense of belonging –– and I was really looking for it. Now, everything is feeling pieced together. I’m seeing the big connections that I didn’t see before.

Maya

Maya, a day student from Greenfield, Massachusetts, joined the NMH community as a sophomore. “I was a little reserved at first,” she said. After moving several times in her childhood, she arrived yearning for a feeling of belonging. 

“I know what it's like to be a new student; I know what it's like to have to make new friends,” she said. “I like to think that I've kind of got it down and know how to do it … but it's still very difficult. …

“I wouldn't say it was a bad year for me. It was actually pretty exciting and fun,” Maya continued. But it was in the spring of that first year, when she discovered WNMH, the campus radio station, that she really found her place.  “I was like ‘Oh; I know why I'm here now, and I feel like this is starting to make more sense.’” 

Maya’s show had no strict theme. “There were really no limits –– just sounds I enjoyed,” she said. “My family raised me on radio,” she said, explaining that her parents influenced her broad taste in music. “One of my greatest passions is just finding new songs and cultivating a feeling.” 

Maya also finds creative expression as a filmmaker, DJ, visual artist, and musician. She feels most confident when she’s making art, she said. “I focus less on words and more on feelings and emotions. Music is my language. I know that sounds almost kind of cliche, but it's the truth.” 

In addition to playing other people’s music over the airwaves, Maya makes music. She was a member of the World Percussion Ensemble for the last two years. “I love Smitty [Director of Music Programs Ron Smith],” she said. “He’s so humble, and he communicates through music.”

Filmmaking is another significant interest for Maya, who is named after the avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren. Her senior year, she combined her interest in film and her passion for climate activism to create “Behind the Tents,” a short documentary that offered a behind-the-scenes look at the waste produced at a local fair.

“Through film, you can easily capture something and save it forever; it never expires,” she said. “In a way, it can replicate the feeling of being in a place for a long time. 

“It's almost like an out-of-body feeling when I get into the zone. When I find stories and communities I almost overlooked and other people overlook, I get really excited and just have to record it,” she continued. “I want to show other people what I'm seeing.”

This summer, Maya will produce videos for a few local businesses and work, for her second year, at Northfield Creamie, the beloved local ice cream haunt near campus. In the fall, she’ll head to Bard College, where she plans to study film. “They have a lot of niche courses,” she said. She’s already looking forward to a course on combining film and sound. “It’s perfect for me,” she said. “One of the most exciting parts of making a video or film is putting the sound on afterward. That's when it all comes together.”

Despite her bumpy start, Maya enjoyed her time at NMH and graduated with a clear sense of purpose. “Being at NMH exposed me to community and a sense of belonging –– and I was really digging, I was really looking for it,” she said. “Now, everything is feeling pieced together. I’m seeing the big connections that I didn’t see before.”