Global Good News: Excellence in Action

Maharishi School in Fairfield is very proud to host four boarding students: Boon Ginn (Boone) Loh from Malaysia in 12th grade; Byoung Jun (Brendon) Park from South Korea in 8th grade; Christian Martina from Argentina in 10th grade; and Samira Abdelrahman from Harrisburg, near Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, a junior at the school.

When asked what brought them to Maharishi School, they all expressed in different ways that they were not feeling completely happy and comfortable in their previous schools.

Brendon, who learnt the Transcendental Meditation Technique (TM) two years ago in South Korea, said that he was not doing as well with his studies as he felt he could, and said that his friends were smoking and he didn’t feel comfortable with that. He and his parents looked at ten prep schools and high schools throughout the US, before deciding on Maharishi School.

Brendon liked Maharishi School right away. He said, 'The children here are really good, and the teachers are really good.' He said what he noticed immediately was that people are polite and say "Please" and "Thank you", which he did not experience in his own school in South Korea. Also, he enjoys the smaller classes with fewer subjects to study at a time.

Boon said that he was not succeeding as well as he wanted in his ten of his classes in Malaysia and felt stressed with all his extra curriculum tutors, multiple studies, and long studying hours. His sister heard from a friend about Maharishi School and recommended it to his parents.

Boon immediately liked it at Maharishi School. He said, 'Everyone is more friendly here, they say "Excuse me" and "Thank you", and people smile back to you here when you smile at them, and that feels good.' He said that he found the teachers here are very helpful and that the whole community is warm. When asked what he thought about practising TM every day he said, 'I like TM, it’s good.'

Christian, from Argentina told us that he was happy that his parents had brought him here. Even though he didn’t really like going to school in general, he felt that the school experience here was much smoother than his experience in Argentina. Reflecting on his own experiences of settling into a new school, with a new culture and a new language, he said 'I would like to start a club for foreign students to help them get acclimated with the language and friends.'

Tired of public school, Samira told us, 'It was too much of a stress, and it made you not like school at all.' Richard Beall, Head of Maharishi School, told her family about Maharishi School. Samira was excited about coming and ready to leave her place of study in NC. She said, 'People are much more friendly, and the teachers want to help you more. I like it here and am glad that I came.'

All the students appreciated their host families and the relationships they were culturing with them. Joel and Karen Price, host family of Brendon, said, 'We chose to be a host family to fill the need, and our family was also excited and interested to learn about Brendon and about another culture.' They added, 'It’s a very sweet experience for us having Brendon here.'

Christian, Brendon, Samira, and Boon all said that even though they missed their families, none were homesick, and they felt happy to be here. Christian added with a smile, 'We’re all under the same sky.'

Reprinted with persmission from the Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment, Iowa, USA.

"The potential of every student is infinite. The time of student life should serve to unfold that infinite potential so that every individual becomes a vibrant centre of Total Knowledge."—Maharishi