Remembering high school senior Maya Anopolsky

Maya Anopolsky, a senior at the University of Washington, died on May 28 after suffering an allergic reaction that paramedics could not control with medication. She was 21.

She is remembered by her parents, Jennifer and Sanford Anopolsky, and her two younger brothers, Robert and Max, as well as countless friends from WashU, high school, summer camp and beyond.

When Maya’s friends described her, one phrase came up again and again: she was the glue of so many relationships. She brought people into her life and she brought them together.

“She helped me when I needed it the most,” said senior Aerin Greif. “She always had her arms open to welcome new friends and made sure people felt loved.”

Maya was originally born in Los Angeles and lived in Bethesda, Maryland for much of her life, where she attended Holton-Arms School.

When Maya was deciding which colleges to apply to during the pandemic, she wasn’t able to tour schools normally; she ultimately decided to apply early decision in part because her parents had had a great experience as undergraduates at WashU decades before.

“She said, ‘This sounds really good, and since you and Dad loved it, I’m sure I’ll love it, too,’” said Jennifer Anopolsky, Maya’s mother.

Three years later, Maya had built a life at WashU where she felt challenged and engaged, surrounded by friends who described her presence as comforting and endlessly entertaining.

“She had a very bubbly personality,” said Noah Kates, a senior who met Maya during her first year at WashU. “She was willing to do anything.”

During her time at WashU, Maya made the most of the small moments with friends: cooking with her roommates, taking long walks through Forest Park, taking study breaks to get snow cones, and yelling through the sunroof of her friend’s car as they drove down the street.

Senior Liv Przydzial met Maya during her freshman year at WashU and they became inseparable, living together for the next two years.

“We did a lot of great things together, but honestly the things that stand out the most were when we were together doing our day-to-day things,” Przydzial said. “Her energy and the people she attracted, I’ve never seen anyone so magnetic.”

She also found opportunities for adventure at every turn, from a day trip to the beach in Illinois to traveling to Madrid and Dublin during spring break to visit friends abroad.

“We had a great time in Dublin and she was there leading us on our pub crawl, mingling with everyone and making friends along the way,” Kates said. “She was always making friends.”

For senior Camilla Giorcelli, Maya was one of the first friends she made at WashU, as they were roommates their freshman year.

“My first impression was, ‘Wow, this little girl loves pink.’ She had decorated her entire room completely in pink,” Giorcelli said.

As they grew closer, she learned more about other aspects of Maya’s personality, including how cheerful and true to herself she was.

“She loved her friends very much,” Giorcelli said. “She was an extremely loyal friend and that’s something you don’t often see, the level of effort she put into all of her friendships.”

Jennifer Anopolsky said that in the months since her passing, the family learned that Maya was known for bringing people together. Friends described her as a natural connector who made them feel valued and important.

“Our family couldn’t agree more,” Jennifer Anopolsky said.

In addition to her close connection with her parents, her mother described her relationship with her younger siblings, who looked to her as a role model.

“When one of her brothers went off to college, she cared a lot about him and gave him advice on how to be a freshman in college,” she said. “She was always very proud.”

Maya was majoring in Psychology and minoring in Marketing, with plans to spend the summer working in advertising in New York City, where she would live with a close friend from high school.

“I feel like I was on the cusp of some great experiences and I’m sad that they were cut short,” Jennifer Anopolsky said.

Outside of class, Maya has been involved in many corners of campus, working as a research assistant in a psychology lab, vice president of events for the Washington University Marketing Association (WUMA), innovation intern at the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and social media director for her sorority Alpha Phi for three years.

Maya’s friends and family described her unwavering dedication to achieving her academic goals: how when she set her mind to something, she would work until she achieved it.

Greif talked about the day Maya returned home having decided she wanted to single-handedly host a forum to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on marketing through WUMA.

“She reached out to a bunch of professionals and professors and put together this whole panel of speakers, and I was so proud of her,” Greif said. “She was so bright and so hard-working.”

Przydzial remembers the days leading up to the panel as being full of hard work, but Maya managed to make it fun.

“At Bauer (Hall) we had an air mattress and we took turns napping,” Przydzial said. “It was literally plugged into the floor. She was so spontaneous and adventurous, but at the same time she was locked in.”

Outside of extracurricular activities, Maya found the little details that made WashU a home. She knew all the names of the dogs that frequented campus (who reminded her of her labradoodle Biscuit) and could name all the different flowers she saw walking around the place.

For the countless people Maya impacted at WashU and beyond, it’s many of these little things—flowers, cookies from Colleen, karaoke with friends—that remind them of her joy and zest for life.

In memory of Maya, her family has worked to establish the Maya Rae Anopolsky Memorial Fundwhich will offer an annual gift that will direct funds to assist future WashU students. To date, the fund has raised nearly $90,000 of its $250,000 goal. Her family is humbled by the numerous donations that have already been made and hopes that others will consider supporting this worthy cause.

“It’s a place she loved, a place where she had a lot of hopes and dreams of where it would take her,” Jennifer Anopolsky said. “She can’t fund her hopes and dreams, but she can fund the hopes and dreams of other young people like her.”

His family has also created a website with tributes from many of Maya’s loved ones, fundraising updates and a photo gallery.

For Przydzial, summing up Maya’s impact on all the people who cared for her is beyond words.

“Not only was she adventurous, funny, wonderful and smart, but she was also real and down to earth, one of the most genuine people I think I will ever meet,” he said. “I don’t know what else to say, it’s more of a feeling and everyone who loved her feels it.”