To whom it may concern,

My name is Anna Shaikun, and I am the Digital Editor for the ODYSSEY Media Group.

I have had the pleasure to serve as Webmaster Maya Shrivastav’s section editor over the course

of the 2022-23 school year. I’ve witnessed the growth of an extremely talented young journalist

and scholar, as well as a wonderful colleague. I wholeheartedly recommend Maya Shrivastav’s

writing and leadership skills.

I first met Maya when I was a sophomore and the Webmaster and they were a Journalism

I student. Even then, Maya’s “can-do” attitude and their passion for their work stood out to me.

Through helping them edit and publish one of their editorials, Maya quickly became one of my

favorite J1 students to work with -- I was thrilled to discover that they would be my Webmaster

on my own Digital Team.

Maya has been a consistent and dedicated member of the Digital Team since their first

day, picking up the art of packaging and posting stories with remarkable speed. They have also

grown to be just as passionate about the multimedia aspect of online content creation as I have.

As a matter of fact, Maya puts a lot of passion into everything they create. Although their

specialty lies in editorials (they’ve written rallying pieces on topics from deadnaming to period

products to gun violence), I still see their face light up when talking about their latest podcast, or

their big news story, or the Creative Writing Project.

In addition to the passion they pour into their stories, Maya has excellent technique as a

writer. As a J1 student, Maya had a reputation as one whose pieces were difficult to edit, just

because all of their pieces were clean, organized, and adhered to AP and ODYSSEY style. As
stated above, Maya is extremely well-rounded and exhibits excellence in multiple facets of

journalistic as well as creative writing.

Although Maya’s technical writing skills are extraordinary, they still pale in comparison

to Maya’s interpersonal skills. Although Maya doesn’t hold an editorial position, they are always

eager to edit when the opportunity arises. In addition, Maya is always willing to take a leadership

role, whether that was as their Team On-Site Production group leader in J1, or simply as a voice

among their peers.

For a recent story written for the magazine, Maya was paired up with a staffer who is

notoriously difficult to manage. However, they ended up guiding him throughout several

successful interviews and the two worked together to create a quality product. Maya shows a lot

of promise as a future leader.

Overall, Maya is a wonderful person to be around. Their sunny disposition and

willingness to help others serves them well in a profession so heavily reliant upon

communication. While Maya will be moving away from Athens in the near future, I genuinely

cannot wait to see what their future holds and how they continue to flourish.

Sincerely,

Anna Shaikun