Aaliyah Miller
Hometown: Waterbury, Connecticut.
Major:
Screenwriting (primary genre) and Public Relations (secondary genre)
Internships: Dark Embrace Films, a small independent digital film company, established by Lawrence King in 2007. The internship included working as a script consultant, coordinating production shoots, and developing media kits for film festivals.
Honors and Awards: Out of the Box was an official selection of the 2011 Urban Mediamakers Film Festival and awarded the Hollywood Scriptwriter 2010 Written Word Award. Finding Patience was awarded the 2010 Sir Hilary Edmond Hillary Award from the Mountain Film Awards.
Before coming into the program, Aaliyah Miller
worked for Casey Family Services, the direct service agency of the
Annie E. Casey Foundation, as a public relations
specialist.
She was looking for a program that would allow her to pursue
her creative and professional interests. “Many low-residency MFA
programs solely focus on creative writing. I work as a
communications professional and wanted a program that would address
strengthening communication and business writing skills. Western
Connecticut State University's Professional Writing program offered
me both.”
Many students that come into the program are
attracted to the program because it allows them to keep a full-time
job. Aaliyah was working full-time when she entered the program. One
of the challenges for Aaliyah was finding a way to balance her
school work with her professional life. “I was able to meet the
challenge. I think the experience helped strengthen my
organizational and research skills. The online learning environment
helped me meet the challenges of balancing course work with my job
responsibilities.”
For Aaliyah, finding a program that was
academically stimulating, but also affordable, was a top priority.
“The cost of higher education can deter prospective students. I
think state universities like Western Connecticut State University
help students reach their educational and professional goals by
providing high-quality education at an affordable cost.”
In addition to finding the academic stimulation
and affordability she craved, Aaliyah also appreciated the
low-residency aspect of the MFA program. “At the residency I engaged
in workshops, lectures, and readings that help inform and challenge
the writer in me. I had an enriching experience that provided me a
variety of opportunities to excel as a writer both creatively and
professionally.”
The relationships that Aaliyah developed at the
residency are of high value to her whether they included the
students or the writing mentors she worked with.
“My advisors were great. They helped me hone my voice and
skill as a writer. I built relationships in the program that
continue today.”
Today, Aaliyah still works as a public relations
specialist for the Annie E. Casey Foundation. She describes the
foundation as “a philanthropic organization that fosters public
policies, human-service reforms, and community supports that more
effectively meet the needs of today’s vulnerable children and
families.” Getting an MFA from WCSU changed how Aaliyah approaches
both her work and her writing. Finding her voice as a writer helped
Aaliyah not just in her creative pursuits, but also in her
professional ones. She describes her approach to writing as coming
from “more of an analytical and editorial perspective.” She goes on
to explain that storytelling is a feature of writing in general.
“Storytelling is a part of public relations writing. Although we
don't write novels, we have to be able to tell a story effectively.”
She is also pursuing a second master’s degree in
the field of Communication and Leadership at Gonzaga University's
School of Professional Studies. She has taught at the college level,
including mentoring screenwriting students in the WCSU MFA Program.
Her screenplays continue to win awards, including her most recent
inclusion for Out of the Box
as an official selection of the 2011 Urban Mediamakers Film
Festival.
