Mya is the daughter of Andy and Amber. Mya gives a lot of credit to her family for many of the things she has learned in life, “My family has taught me the importance of hard work and dedication. My mom and dad never deterred me from joining any club or activity I wanted to join. They also come and support me in all my sports whenever they can. Some things I like to do with them is play board games and go fishing.”

At Royalton High School Mya participates in many activities such as: volleyball manager, basketball where she was a 2-year captain, track & field, softball, President of Student Council, YES club, Knowledge Bowl and Minnesota Honor Society. When it comes to these many activities Mya had this to say, “I enjoy knowledge bowl and sports because they allow me to compete head-to-head with others. I enjoy the YES club because I miss school for field trips and being outside. And finally, I enjoy student council and MHS because it allows me to be active in the community and the school. I have gained friends and lifetime experiences in all of the different activities, and that has probably been the most beneficial part of being involved in so many activities.”

Head Girls Basketball Coach and High School Social Studies Teacher Brad Baumann had this to say about Mya, “It has been a pleasure coaching Mya in basketball and having her as a student. She has a fun-loving spirit and has done a great job being a leader in all her activities and our student body. Watching her grow into the great player and student that she is, has been fantastic to see and I hope many of our younger student and athletes use her as an example to look up to. She will be dearly missed after she graduates, but its going to fun to see where she ends up in life because whatever she decides to do, I know she will be super successful.”

Looking at her classes Mya says civics comes to mind first, “My favorite class is probably civics. This is because J. Schaa always cracks funny dad jokes, and I like listening to his odd fun facts. It's also my favorite because I get to take walks when I get antsy.”

As for favorite teacher Mya says Sheri Menden is her favorite, “My favorite teacher is Ms. Menden. She made comp class something to look forward to with her bubbly personality and her constant joke cracking. She never thought twice about helping me even if I had dumb questions. She inspires me by treating everyone fairly and equal.”

Mya’s favorite high school memory came during her freshman year, “My favorite high school memory was spending all of spring freshman year being with my friends doing whatever we wanted all day because of covid.” Mya also added that she had a memorable memory sophomore year as well, “My favorite event I was a part of was beating Holdingford in section playoffs my sophomore year. This stands out above the rest because the gym was full and tensions were high and I'm not sure a person in that gym thought we were going to leave with a win.”

As to what she plans to do next year and where she sees herself in 10 years, Mya had this to say, “Next fall I'm attending the University of Minnesota twin cities to pursue a degree in criminology. I hope to eventually get a job in federal law enforcement. I decided on this because I was always interested in crime and I simply cannot stand the thought of being stuck in an office all day and in ten years I plan on living somewhere in a house I built with a couple of dogs, and

traveling in my free time. My career goal is to join the FBI, and one of my life goals is to visit all 7 continents, and visit North Korea.”

Mya’s advice to high school freshmen is this “find something to get involved in, and find an upperclassman to look up to. Also getting in a little trouble once in a while never hurt anyone :)”