Music has always been a part of Maya Holt’s life. The daughter of a musician turned music teacher and a former radio DJ, Holt’s family provided her a home full of music and creativity, whether it was performing warm up songs while driving, or watching documentaries on Freddy Mercury, the world-famous singer for Queen.
“Being around music all of my life has been a pretty big motivation for me. Growing up, my parents were very involved in music. My mother is a performer as well as a music teacher, when she settled down, and my dad was a radio disc jockey in Pennsylvania.
“When I grew up I realized that my life is not like other people’s. I never realized how unique my life was until I looked out at the world. My family helped define who I was, because I wouldn’t have listened to this music otherwise, they sparked my interest. Because they showed me so many different things growing up, I was able to pick the path I wanted to follow when I grew older.”
When Holt arrived at UNM, she first majored in Psychology, then criminology, because she was looking for a career path that would have provided a more stable level of income. But despite majoring in those degrees, her heart still lay with music, journalism, and the creativity that they sparked in her spirit.
Despite her musical upbringing, Holt decided she didn’t want to go on and get her degree in musical performance at UNM, opting instead for communication and media arts, where she could use combine her passion for music, with her interest in technology and multimedia editing.
“I don’t want to be a musician. I love music so much, but I like the listening aspect of music more, and I’m really interested in the audio production side. My dad and I didn’t really perform music as much as we loved listening to and producing music. My mom and my sister are the performers, that’s who they are.
“I like audio engineering, where you produce music for artists. Also, when I worked at my church I did the sound mixing, and worked on videos as well. I really enjoyed the production side of film making, as well as working on music as well. I like it more than the performing aspect of music.”
Holt credits her family for giving her a positive outlook on life. One that will prepare her for the rest of her college life, and what’s waiting for her after she graduates.
“I look at everything in the past as a positive thing, whether good or bad, because I’ve become who I am because of those things. There’s beauty in everything I’ve learned over the years, and I’m pretty proud of who I’m becoming as a person. It’s cool to love yourself and know that no matter what, there’s no one like you. To take pride in that. I think that everyone should find something they like, and even if it’s not the coolest thing in the world to other people’s eyes, it’s cool to them. That’s what I’ve found out, and I’m really grateful for that.”
