Maya Padilla was born in Clovis, California while residing in Fresno, California. At the age of six years old, she moved to Sanger where she lived out her childhood and part of her adulthood. After graduating from Sanger High School, Maya attended Fresno City College in 2017.

After going her whole life not knowing what she wanted to pursue, she fell under the pressure of adults and professors. Maya settled for pursuing a degree in Sociology. While she knew she enjoyed Sociology and the logistics of it, it wasn’t what she was truly passionate about. She went through college very carelessly due to the obligations of completing her AA. After roughly 3 years of attending Fresno City College, she obtained her AA in Sociology. The semester after, she realized her degree was on hold due to the failure to pass one class. Maya signed up for classes again in 2021 to officially complete her degree.

However, what she is truly passionate about is the artistic and creative side of life. Maya is very passionate about writing, reading, and creating. She realized she wanted to work toward being a creative director of some sort, or a freelance journalist. After applying to Pratt Institute for the Journalism program, they placed her on a waitlist. Months passed by, and Pratt informed her that she did not get accepted off the waitlist.

After essentially being rejected, she felt very lost and incompetent. She didn’t know what her purpose was or what she was good at. Maya lost hope after that point and pursued nothing. Time was passing and there was little to no improvement.

It was at that point that she realized that the rejection of Pratt wasn’t a sign to give up her dreams, it was simply motivation to work harder. All wasn’t lost. She reminded herself that if she could get close enough to being put on the waitlist, that through hard work and perseverance, she would get accepted.

Maya is at a point of self-realization and is determined to become successful by any means.