ThreeSixty Journalism alumna Maya Shelton-Davies is back at ThreeSixty this summer, but this time as an instructor of ThreeSixty’s Introduction to Journalism Camp. Shelton-Davies is a senior at the University of St. Thomas studying communication and journalism with a minor in sustainability.
From 2010-15, Shelton-Davies was a student participant with ThreeSixty. She graduated from River Falls High School in 2015 but has remained close to the program.
“I’ve gotten to see the organization grow and change. It’s been such a huge portion of my life, almost half,” Maya said. “It seems right that it has come full circle, that I can try and give back to an organization I’ve learned so much from.”
Over the years, Shelton-Davies participated in a number of ThreeSixty program options and filed reported stories on a variety of topics. As she moved forward in ThreeSixty, her love for storytelling continued to be enhanced.
“Story writing is so important. It’s important to inform and empower the public to make good decisions,” Shelton-Davies said. “I hope one day my work can help anybody make a choice, whether it’s in public policy or from a human-interest piece.”
Shelton-Davies has applied the skills she learned in ThreeSixty at St. Thomas. She has worked as a reporter for TommieMedia, the university’s student-led media organization, and last spring she presented a critical analysis of media representation of queer women, particularly in television, at the Undergraduate Communications Research Conference.
Upon graduation next spring,Shelton-Davies hopes to attend graduate school in Chicago.
