Global Good News: Excellence in Action

Theresa Golden from California, a Communications and Media major, explains that she received an email from a friend that said, 'Check out this university—Maharishi University of Management (MUM).'

Theresa discovered that at Maharishi University of Management, students study one subject at a time; they have vegetarian meals—she and her husband are vegetarians—and practise the Transcendental Meditation Technique—she had always wanted to learn how to meditate.

Marco Sunseri from Colorado, an MBA student, was in between careers. ‘I took a major leap of faith,’ he says. ‘I was reading Catching the Big Fish by David Lynch, and I thought, 'This is perfect, I'm just going to go and check this place out.'

When Marco came to Maharishi University of Management he realized he could take the course in Sustainable Living; his room and board was taken care of; and he could learn Transcendental Meditation. He could do all of it at the same time just by applying to the university. ‘It made complete sense,’ he said.

Joy Salmon from Texas, taking the Bachelor of Science degree in Sustainable Living says, ‘didn’t think about the disparity of ages so much, I just jumped right in.

‘I live in a dorm for women,’ she continued. ‘I listen to all the kids giggle and join in because it's more like a family and that made me feel good.

‘Coming here got me out of a stagnated spot that wasn’t going anywhere, so just jumping into something fresh, you get younger people's energy, impetus, and motivation.’

Theresa said that her kids were really surprised that she is going to college and living in a dorm! She told the story of her kids surprise: ‘They all said “You're going to be in a dorm?!” I said "Yea.”'

'That's part of the fun!' Joy commented.

Theresa continued: 'One of my girls said "I'm amazed. How did you stay in a dorm all this time?" I said, "For one thing, it's right across the street from where I've got to be so I don’t have to worry about travelling, plus I'm on the Global Student Council so we have meetings. For me to connect with the students, I thought it was easier for me to just be on campus.’"

Theresa came to a Visitors Weekend at Maharishi University of Management and learnt Transcendental Meditation, ‘which was really great. So I said, "I'm in!"’ She explains that she had been working on the Obama campaign so she went to the Inauguration and then left Washington, took a train, and came to Fairfield.

Both Theresa and Marco brought credits from previous courses they had done, which were accepted towards their study at MUM.

‘I've learnt a lot from the students and the youth,’ Theresa continued, ‘but I always carry that attitude that you're learning when you're teaching, simultaneously.’
Marco commented that when thinking before doing the video interview, something similar came to mind.

‘Working and spending a lot of time with younger students, because of the way things are transitioning, we are going to be working with younger employees, so this is an opportunity for older people coming here. You're going to get first hand experience of working with younger students, people you may be leading in a group role.

'I think what you've really got here is such a broader range of self-awareness, and then you get skills and how to apply them, but you bring that knowledge of yourself.

‘It's always there, wherever you go it's with you. It's totally different to a skill set or a training, which is valuable, but you can have an excellent training programme and if you're not complete internally, what are you going to bring to the table?'

Theresa added that she knew how to work a camera; she had learnt editing. ‘I knew all these mechanical things. I was already on my path,’ she said, ‘but the greatest thing (at MUM) was my development.

‘Transcendental Meditation is like an extra tool that I was missing. It was Transcendental Meditation that created this stillness when I'm in the midst of chaos.

'I want to take my experience and enfold it with all the other things that I've done and really go out there and move the world.'

Marco and Joy agreed!

"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