Name: Maia Evrigenis
Major: Childhood Special Education
Hometown: Sacramento, CA
Year: 2017
Favorite Movie: Screams 1, 2, 3 & 4, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dan in Real Life
Favorite Show: Smallville
Favorite Quote: “I survive and name the ritual beauty” – Aja Monet
Go-to Repeat Song on iPod: “Ignition Remix” by R Kelly
Fun fact: “I can play “Your Body is a Wonderland” on the harmonica.”
HC NYU What are your activities and interests?ME I love music, mainly jazz! I’ve been to so many incredible jazz shows. I like it because it is so challenging, yet somehow relaxing. My favorite jazz musician is the trumpet player Chet Baker. Too good. Too cool.
I’m also pretty into yoga… huge shout out to Yoga to the People and Modo Yoga NYC for constantly making my day. I just like the whole yoga vibe. I feel calm, strong, healthy, and connected!
I’d say my main involvement at NYU is my sorority, Pi Beta Phi. All the girls are so fun and really unique. I started a discussion group in the chapter this year called Phind Yourself where us girls meet up to talk about life, college stresses, and mainly just get to know ourselves and each other better. It’s been an incredible experience so far!
HC NYU What are your future goal and aspirations?ME I’m thinking that I want to be a high school principal, and then somehow revolutionize education across America—we’ll see how that works out! I just want to create a space that teenagers actually want to be in!
I also have a lot of goals as a writer. I just finished my first draft of my first novel. Hopefully I get a book or two published in this lifetime. Remember the name.
HC NYU Who do you look to for inspiration?ME Lately I’ve been listening to “Radio Diaries” a lot— it’s the best podcast! Basically this guy made a bunch of people carry around tape recorders and talk about their lives 20 years ago, and then they play us the tape and reflect on it today. It’s awesome! Everyone is so interesting and it’s crazy to see how much a person can grow. “Radio Diaries” inspires me to reflect on my life more and embrace who I am at the present moment, while not being afraid to grow and change!
HC NYU Which qualities would you find admirable?ME Honesty. Even more so just being real. Risk taking, rule breaking. Authority questioning! Fearless living. Caring too much about the things that actually matter. Respecting the things that don’t. Relying on yourself for happiness. Accepting and loving life for what it is.
HC NYU Do you have any particular role-models you look up to?ME At the moment I’m really admiring this one poet, Aja Monet. Everything she talks about just makes sense; her words are so relevant. She never holds back. I would be proud to live even just half of how fearlessly Aja does. If you’ve got a minute, YouTube “What I’ve Learned” by Aja Monet. I guarantee it’ll make you feel something.