Maria Leyva-Hernandez

Hometown: Laurel, DE
Occupation: Master’s Student at the University of Southern California
Majors: Linguistics, B.A. with Minor in Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence ’25
Public Relations and Advertising, M.A. candidate for May ’26

I am a first-generation student and linguist-turned-PR professional passionate about bridging culture, communication, and community. From decoding dialects to designing campaigns, I believe that language is power—and I am here to help people use it boldly.

Ask me about…

• McDonald’s Marketing
• My pet corgi and chihuahua
• Sociolinguistics
• Bouba vs. Kiki
• The cot-caught merger
• Geospatial Intelligence