For those who know Maya, one thing comes to mind upon her mention: Instagram goddess. Take one look at her bright, white theme, and you’ll wonder how someone could achieve such a cohesive social media page. Maya is a sweet, creative go-getter who lets nothing get in the way of her goals. With her newly established blog, Maya Ashley, she strives to share her lifestyle in an aesthetically pleasing way for the rest of us to drool over.
But there’s a lot more to this Iowa City native than what you can see from her social media. Besides having a passion for media design, Maya has a love for arguing and is fittingly on a pre-law track, majoring in philosophy.
“Ever since I read To Kill A Mockingbird, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer like Atticus Finch. I think what inspired me most was his unwavering resolution to do the right thing regardless of the opinions of those around him. I wanted to be like him, possess that strength of character that leads one to always speak out. For me, that has translated to my love of argument. But I also realized that to speak against things you disagree with is useless if you can’t clearly state your opinion and respond to any objections. I wanted to learn how to precisely craft an argument, so philosophy was the perfect choice for me. I get to work on my argumentation skills while critiquing and learning from some of the best arguments. Philosophy teaches you to poke holes in arguments and then turn around and put yourself in the author’s shoes and come up with their response to your objection. It’s less memorizing and more understanding, which leads you to more questions and more in depth arguments.”
In her free time, Maya can be found at the yoga studio brushing up on her asanas (otherwise known as yoga poses).
“My favorite thing to do at any time is yoga. Don’t be surprised if you’re walking past a study room and see me doing sun salutations with my book open and deserted on the table. I’m currently in training to be a yoga teacher, and it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that yoga isn’t just a physical practice, it’s a state of being, too. I swear I’m a better person since I started yoga. I’m even starting to get those smoothie breakfast bowls down. It’s such an amazing activity because you can do yoga at any level, at any age, and it truly changes your life.”
There’s a lot to learn from this wise soul (especially how to achieve the perfect smoothie bowl), so we asked a few more quick questions to get to know this cool collegiette:
Her Campus: Coffee order?
Maya: I don’t drink coffee, but I’m in love with pomegranate tea from Trader Joe’s.
HC: Involvements?
M: Kappa Alpha Theta (Think Theta!), and I’m also secretary of the Iowa City School District Equity Committee, which works to bridge the gap between the achievement and treatment of minority and majority groups within the school district.
HC: I have to ask, what’s your smoothie bowl recipe?
M: Frozen strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and almond milk. Then protein powder, chia seeds, spinach and lemon juice. Then I garnish it with fresh blueberries, chia seeds and sometimes a drizzle of vanilla yogurt!
HC: Go-to color in your wardrobe?
M: ALWAYS WHITE AND BLACK.
HC: Go-to item in your wardrobe?
M: My Stubbs & Wootton slippers, hands down. They’re an easy way to class up any outfit.
HC: Final question, what advice to you have for other collegiettes?
M: I know it sounds hard, but find a way to balance being content with where you are in life while still being able to acknowledge and work to improve your shortcomings. There’s a lot of push today to be happy with who you are and that’s awesome, but we can’t forget who we want to be in the process.