UW Bothell junior leans into her many Husky experiences

Media & Communication Studies junior Mariyah Hicks talks about how her time at UW Bothell has led to her meeting diverse students, leaning into her love of dance — and much more.

Midway through her college journey, Mariyah Hicks has already experienced a lot. She has launched her own business, learned to live independently, built friendships with students from a range of backgrounds, and worked as a researcher and teaching assistant.

Hicks describes herself as an entrepreneur, a creative, loving person — someone who is always looking for more.

“I’m a dancer, singer, writer, actor. I love cooking. I love to work out. I’m a lot of things,” she said. “I’m all that and a bag of chips.”

Searching for a place to grow

Hicks grew up in Great Falls, Montana, with five siblings. Both her parents served in the U.S. Air Force and met while stationed there. In a city where only 1% of the population is Black, Hicks said growing up wasn’t always easy, but her church and family provided a constant source of strength and community.

After graduating from high school, Hicks said she wanted to leave Great Falls for a college so she could experience new things, a mindset inspired by her godparents, Bishop Marcus L. Collins and Antoinette Collins.

“My goddad is the bishop at the church where I grew up,” she said. “Growing up, I watched him find himself as a person, and he also helped the community around him find themselves, too. I would say everything that I do is a mirror or reflection of what he has already done.”

Hicks looked forward to meeting other Black students when she came to UW Bothell, something she said she had always wanted as a child. “But arriving here, I was shocked that there’s so much diversity,” she said. “There are so many cultures and identities out here.

“I was able to connect with people not based on what they looked like or what I perceived them to be but for who they were.”

Embracing the diversity of college

Early in college, Hicks said she was embraced by the Filipino community on campus. “I felt like a part of a bigger family, which I didn’t understand I needed at the time,” she said.

She connected with students from Indian backgrounds through dance, too. Despite their different backgrounds, Hicks said, it felt as though they were speaking the same language because of their shared passion.

Hicks also joined the Black Student Union, where she said she gained a deeper awareness of the vast range of Black identities in America. During BSU events, she met students whose families were from Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea. “I thought, ‘Woah, this is a whole new side of the world that I didn’t even know I was a part of,’” Hicks said.

In her sophomore year, Hicks became a BSU events coordinator, helping organize events for students to gain their own understanding of issues in the Black community.

“I feel like there’s a lack of understanding of what it means to be Black and what it means to be proud of your identity,” she said, reflecting on the events she helped organize. “So, I feel like I just want to spread that awareness and spread that kindness and spread that love.”

Building a business to pay the bills

Moving to college and being independent for the first time was challenging for Hicks. She suddenly had to learn how to pay bills, obtain student loans and get a job. And all this was on top of learning to manage more advanced college classes.

To alleviate the financial strain, she decided to start her own hair business.

Hicks made her first foray as an entrepreneur in 2022 when she and her father created a snow cone business named Color Crush. They sold snow cones to the local community from their driveway and at her old elementary school. That experience gave her the skills she needed to manage money and organize a business, she recalled.

She next decided to start a hair business because she had worked for her godmother’s hair business in Great Falls. “A lot of those foundational principles came from her,” she said, also noting the positive role model her godmother was as a young Black woman.

In her business, On Time Braidz, Hicks offers hair braiding, crochet, cornrows, dreadlocks and passion twists. To start, she did hair for fellow students at UW Bothell, but as her business has grown, she has expanded into the local community.

Finding support with scholarships

Hicks’s main goal for her business is to help pay off her student loan debt. She has also been applying for scholarships and recently was awarded a UW Bothell Alumni Endowed Scholarship.

“I originally applied because I am under as much financial stress as any person could be in,” she said. “Tuition for me, since I’m an out-of-state student, is $40,000. $40,000?! Who has money like that? I’m fresh out of high school!”

Receiving the scholarship has made a big difference in her experience at UW Bothell, Hicks said. “There’s less to worry about because it’s another thing that’s helping me get rid of this debt.”

After applying for a number of scholarships and getting rejected, getting this scholarship has also given Hicks hope that there is always going to be someone who accepts her.

“A scholarship opens doors,” she said, “not only for my bank account but for me as a person, too.”

Finding a direction in life

When it comes to life after college, Hicks said she has many ambitions. She wants to go to cosmetology school and open a more established hair business. Later in life, she hopes to be a teacher, and she’d also like to work in television broadcasting.

But her biggest dream is to travel the world as a dancer. “I love dancing,” she said. “Everything about me is dance, dance, dance.”

Hicks first fell in love with dancing when she joined her church’s youth dance group in elementary school. When she ran out of opportunities to learn in Great Falls, she taught herself through YouTube videos. Then, during her first year at UW Bothell, she took a dance class with Associate Professor Naomi Bragin, later returning to the class as a teaching assistant. “Having the opportunity to share what I love with others was such a cool process,” she said.

Later, Hicks worked as a researcher for Bragin’s Grief Rituals project and brought dance into the experience. “It’s turning grief — whether it’s grief over a person, an object, a place or an identity — into movement and dance,” she said. “It’s a translation of expression.”

Whether she is braiding hair, coordinating BSU events, conducting research or teaching dance, Hicks is still exploring where her path will ultimately lead. And that’s exactly how she likes it.

“I’m just that type of person. I’m open to anything new.”