Yale Debate & English Alum: Writing, Debate, Literature Tutor

Maia D.

College Counseling

I graduated from Yale College in 2024 with my degree in English Literature. For the past six years, I've worked both independently and with various college preparatory companies helping students to apply to American undergraduate institutions. My personal clients have been accepted to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Georgetown, Duke, and other Honors Colleges and top programs throughout the country. I specialize in helping students to craft their narratives through personal essays, supplemental essays, and their extracurricular section.

Debate

From 2020-2024, I was a member of the Yale Debate Association where I was the 2022 Director of Development, 9th Team of the Year, and represented Yale at the 2023 World University Debate Championships and 2024 North American Debate Championships. In high school, I was the second highest ranked Lincoln-Douglas debater in Montana, and the champion of the 2018 National Qualifying Tournament. Since graduating, I coached Parliamentary Debate at Leaders Academy in Seoul, South Korea from December of 2024 to August of 2025, where I was responsible for building the Elementary Debate curriculum and coaching Secondary Debate. Leaders Academy is the most historically-successful private academy in South Korea. I also coached students in Impromptu and Prepared Speaking. My students won the 2025 Seoul Worlds Invitational in Impromptu and Prepared Speaking. I also coached the debate portion of the 2025 World Scholar's Cup (Parliamentary style debate); my students championed the 2025 Seoul World Scholar's Cup. I've also coached Lincoln-Douglas Debate for Palo Alto High School, a program ranked #3 out of 250 high school programs in California and #24 out of 3,000+ in the country. At Palo Alto, I was responsible for style and content debates, focusing especially on improving students' analysis around value and criterion clashes.

Essay Writing

I graduated from Yale College in 2024 with distinction in the English major and a concentration in Creative Writing (Fiction). I've helped over two dozen students apply to college both privately and through a college prep company. My personal clients have been accepted to Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, and Stanford in admissions cycles from 2022-2025. In 2025, I served as the Director of English Programs at Leaders Academy in Seoul, South Korea, where I taught Literature and Writing to students aged 8-18.

Speech

I debated for four years at Yale University, where I was the 2022 9th Team of the Year and represented Yale at the 2023 World University Debate Championship and 2024 North American Debate Championship. During my tenure as Head Debate Coach at Hellgate High School in 2020, I coached students in speech events including: extemporaneous speaking, impromptu speaking, and after-dinner speaking. From December of 2024 to August of 2025, I was the Head Speech Coach at Leaders Academy in Seoul, South Korea, where I coached students who championed the 2025 Seoul World Invitational in Impromptu Speaking and Prepared Speaking. While at Yale I organized multiple speaking events, including a showcase debate between the Yale Debate Association and the Rikers' Prison Debate Project in 2022. Finally, in 2024 I planned the Yale Invitational, a nationally-ranked Speech and Debate competition with over 2,000 participants in attendance; planning this event required knowledge of each individual speech event, including: extemporaneous speaking, impromptu speaking, and original oratory.