After graduating with an M.A. in Slavic Languages and Literatures in spring of 2010, Holly studied at the London School in Bishkek, Kazakhstan in the summer of 2010 on her own. She studied at KIMEP in Almaty, Kirghiz Republic, 2010-2011 through ACTR. She is currently a Ph.D.-track graduate student in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Columbia University. She has not not decided on a dissertation topic, but her research interests include Central Asian literature, zhenskaya proza, and contemporary Russian literature.