January 11, 2022 • ISSUE 605

Francesca Redlich

The Magic of Writing Fiction

Francesca Redlich is a student from California who has served on MIU Student Government since her enrollment in August 2019. She has acted as LGBTQ+ as well as diversity, equity, and inclusivity representative and is now the Student Body president.
 
Francesca was looking for an alternative university seven years ago when she found MIU, but wasn’t ready to leave sunny California. Five years later, when she decided to finish her degree, she chose MIU.
 
Her outgoing nature and desire to support her peers motivated her to join Student Government right away. She enjoys her role of listening to students and sharing their concerns with the administration.

Hosting the Winter Celebration and Maharishi Awards

Taking on extra responsibilities can be overwhelming, but Francesca feels more comfortable with it since she began practicing the Transcendental Meditation® technique. “I am a very anxious person,” she said. “Being able to quiet my mind is an invaluable feat this school has allowed me to accomplish.”
 
Francesca loves singing, reciting poetry, and public speaking, but her passion is writing fantasy fiction. She wrote and illustrated her first story at age four and has wanted to become an author ever since. Prior to coming to MIU, she studied cultural anthropology and acquired the skill of researching and writing about civilizations.

With Student Government vice president, Jonathan Looney

She is a certified teacher of the TM® technique, taught at Maharishi School for 11 years, and is currently the director of MIU’s Evaluations and Assessments, which conducts the student surveys used in her study. Her research interests also include the effect of the TM technique on burnout in educators, health care workers, and professionals in other high-stress jobs.
 
Her goal is to write stories incorporating history, mythology, and religion while traveling the world and gathering inspiration and material. She is especially fond of the magical realism genre, which combines real world settings with magical and supernatural phenomena.

 
Francesca is completing her BFA in creative and professional writing next spring, and during the upcoming semester she will be working on several chapters of her first novel. “I am very excited to work on something so important to me and also be in a class with my peers and professors,” she said.