Melanie Telego served two years in the US Army in the 1990s and spent a large part of her life around military installations, following her career soldier husband. She worked as a substitute teacher in public schools as well as in a Department of Defense school in Germany.

Most recently, Melanie ran the US Army’s Career Skills Program for the Fort Drum Army Education Center in New York, where she helped establish civilian employment skill training programs for soldiers who had completed their military service.

Melanie has always been interested in holistic health, but couldn’t find a university that offered a suitable program. She attended college three different times and studied psychology, but between working full time and raising two children she never had the chance to graduate. She became a certified yoga teacher, completed a yoga training course for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and studied yoga philosophy and Ayurveda in her free time.

In 2018 Melanie saw an ad for MIU on Instagram and was excited to discover a degree program in Maharishi AyurVeda and Integrative Medicine. She originally applied for the online program, but decided to move to Fairfield and study on campus in August 2019.

“MIU has been a life-changing experience for me,” said Melanie. “MIU offers a very unique learning opportunity. I have found a safe, supportive, and nurturing environment where I can rediscover myself and who I really am at my deepest foundation.”

Melanie soon realized that many former military service members and their families would enjoy the same benefits she has experienced. “Soldiers are often looking for a rural location, a supportive community, and degree programs in agriculture, sustainability, health, business, and entrepreneurship,” she said.

Using her connections in the military, Melanie would like to facilitate collaboration between MIU and the US Army so that more soldiers can learn about MIU. Her dream is to promote the incorporation of the Transcendental Meditation^® program into basic military training in order to reduce stress and PTSD.

MIU student Henry Gonzales Ortiz hails from Bogota, Colombia, where he studied classical music at Juan N. Corpas University. While in college, one of his classmates introduced him to the Transcendental Meditation^® technique, which he learned in 2015.

Henry’s parents have struggled with health issues, and in 2018 Henry lost his father to cancer. He decided to change direction and pursue training in natural health and prevention. “I realized that life is about healing and learning, and the TM and TM-Sidhi programs have sped up the process,” he said. “When you have access to your inner peace, the learning gets done more easily. I am very grateful for the deep transformation I have experienced.”

He heard about MIU’s online MS in Maharishi AyurVeda and Integrative Medicine program from his TM-Sidhi^® administrators and enrolled in February 2019. Henry is motivated by the desire to improve his health and help those around him.

“Ayurveda is such an ancient concept, yet it’s also current,” said Henry. “It’s a very profound knowledge that helps you connect with yourself in a way that allows you to be in harmony without much effort.”

Henry has incorporated many of the daily ayurvedic preventative measures in his life, such as the daily oil massage, and has experienced great improvements. He enjoys the weekly structure of his classes and the focus on understanding the material, while at the same time maintaining a stress-free learning process.

In addition to pursuing the online program at MIU, Henry is exploring other forms of preventative therapies, such as energy medicine, yoga, and local medicinal herbs. Once he graduates he would like to have a practice integrating Maharishi AyurVeda^SM and local herbalism. In his free time, he contributes to a music blog by compiling a playlist of songs.