School of Business

BBA Honours student Maya Basa has won a Futures Fund Scholarship by demonstrating "exemplary leadership in [her] academic and extra-curricular initiatives." The Fund provides travel to Toronto for the Awards Gala, including an invitation to attend the CEO of the Year Award event held at the Royal Ontario Museum. "Everything was extremely well organized, well communicated, and well put together," Maya said. "It was gratifying to represent the Maritimes and interesting being an undergraduate at an event that also welcomed MBA students."

Maya is a Dean’s List scholar and the recipient of a host of scholarships, including an Acadia Excellence Scholarship, the Winston Steeves Memorial Scholarship in Business, and the Cecil Patterson Blakeley Business Administration Scholarship. Dr. Jim Grant calls Maya "the epitome of an inspired and inspiring student and leader. But perhaps the most extraordinary contribution Maya has made to the university community is the creation and operation of the Acadia Personal Support Line, one of the few student-led support line services in Canada, and maybe the only one led by an undergraduate student." For her accomplishment in this area, Maya was recognized with the AUFA Lois Vallely-Fischer Award for Democratic Citizenship.

Maya acknowledges Acadia’s role in giving her the education to understand the corporate world, an understanding that she believes is made possible by having access to faculty. "One of the big things about Acadia is that I’ve been able to speak to professors. They make themselves accessible to students, which really makes for a great community. If you can talk confidently with your professors, you can do likewise with other leaders throughout your career."

What is next for Maya Basa? "I’m going directly into the work force because I think that gaining experience is critical. And the Futures Fund Scholarship has placed me in a good position. Academically, I would be interested in an MSc, something with a bigger math focus, that will prepare me for business analytics, business intelligence, and big data."

Analytics is not the usual path taken by high-achieving business students. "It’s important to go into work that you’re interested in, not in just chasing the highest salary," Maya explains. "Because in the long run, you’ll do a lot more and be a lot happier by doing what you want to do."