Throughout her exceptional accomplishments at Missouri Southern, Maya Dally’s love for English literature and writing has grown with her experience. Surrounded by books helping students as a student worker at Spiva Library, she is constantly reminded of why she chose to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in English, Literary Studies and a minor in Creative Writing.
Dally has excelled at Missouri Southern as a motivated honors student; she credits support from MSSU faculty, staff, and students for helping her reach her potential. As a first-generation student, Dally was uncertain of the university experience, but she was met with the help she needed to thrive. MSSU’s Language and Literature department has especially fueled her passion for literature.
“The faculty is incredible, and you can truly feel how much they care for their students’ success and education,” said Dally. “The classes taught in the English department are always intriguing and produce the best discussions.”
These skills are applied to her endeavors as an editor of MSSU’s literary magazine, “bordertown,” which has greatly influenced her writing interests. Publishing and editing are fields Dally plans to pursue, and her time at “bordertown” has prepared her for such work.
“We always engage in meaningful discussion over submissions,” she said. “I've earned so much relevant experience during my work on “bordertown” and learned a lot from the talented writers around me.”
Dally will continue her education at Coastal Carolina University’s Master of Arts in Writing program called Write by the Beach. Its diverse courses will allow her to further explore and prepare for the various fields of writing. She’s also earned an assistantship, where she will teach part-time, tutor students, or help faculty with research while pursuing her master’s.
“English is my passion,” Dally said. “I love it enough that doing almost anything in the field will make me happy.”
