Narayana Windenberger has been attracted to computers ever since he was a child. Growing up in Fairfield he learned programming languages for fun, and in high school started a business repairing computers. As his interest also grew in math and finance, he decided to major in business at MUM.

“I am glad I studied business,” he said. “It’s something a lot of people are looking for in the industry. They want someone who understands financial principles, marketing, and operations, but is also good with tech.”

Narayana graduated as valedictorian in 2008 and also earned an MBA degree from MUM in 2009. Soon after graduating he got a position at FoodChain ID in Fairfield. As an analyst his work included creating financial reports, and over time he mastered more and more data analysis tools, advancing to business intelligence manager.

While conducting research to solve certain problems in the spreadsheet software Microsoft Excel, he came across the company PowerPivotPro, offering training and consulting services on a more sophisticated and advanced suite of tools for generating reports called PowerPivot and PowerBI. He kept studying the company and its data analysis techniques, and when they had a job opening he applied. After a difficult test and a round of interviews he was hired as principal consultant.

Fortunately, all of the company’s employees work remotely, so Narayana didn’t have to relocate. He travels to meet clients and then returns to Fairfield to build customized reporting packages and dashboards that make the jobs of CEOs and other decision-makers easier. He enjoys the challenge of assisting different industries and reapplying the patterns he has discovered to solve their problems.

Working from home helps Narayana maintain a balanced routine, which he finds valuable. “MUM gave me a perspective of balance,” he said. “There is every incentive to work as many hours as possible, but after seven or eight hours my ability to creatively solve problems goes to zero.” He also says that solutions often arise from the settled state of mind he enjoys while practicing the Transcendental Meditation^®technique.

In the future, Narayana hopes to create a business in Fairfield that services the whole country and brings more wealth to the local community.

Chris Vasques came to MUM in 2014 to follow his dream of living in a sustainable community. For ten years Chris had worked as a professional musician and in various other roles at Boston hotels, followed by a couple of jobs in marketing and graphic design, and he was ready for a change.

He had been thinking about creating a sustainable community for artists like himself, and at MUM he had the chance to learn more about what keeps communities together. His favorite experience was the semester he spent in Hawaii with Professor Lonnie Gamble and a group of students exploring indigenous cultures, permaculture, sustainable living, and intentional communities.

For his senior project he examined the relationship of consumerism to happiness, and whether living in a happy community with strong social ties can shield people from the influence of manipulative advertising and reduce consumerism and the resulting pollution created by manufacturing. He discovered that social factors, such as being able to call upon someone when in need, create more happiness than having more money and the ability to purchase products. In fact, more buying power results in less happiness.

Chris was very excited to attend MUM because he felt he had found his home. He learned the Transcendental Meditation^®technique prior to coming to MUM and one of the the greatest days of his life was when he first experienced the group practice of the TM^® technique during his first class. “Meditation for me is the counterbalance to writing,” he said. “I need to express and shape ideas and deep subtle concepts, and after meditation they are there waiting for me.”

Chris graduated this spring with a major in sustainable living and a minor in creative writing and received the Outstanding Student Award from the Department of Sustainable Living. He is currently working in MUM’s Distance Education Department designing online courses.

In the future he wants to continue studying community dynamics, social cohesion, and their effect on individual happiness. He is planning to get a PhD in social psychology and work in academia.

“Teaching is not what you do, it’s who you are,” says Barbara Hays, who has always been a teacher. She was inquisitive as a child, and enjoyed sharing her discoveries with her peers. Her interest in science and dedication to education paid off: she graduated this year as MUM’s Valedictorian and received the Outstanding Student Award from the Department of Education.

Barbara moved to Fairfield in 1996, so that her three children could attend Maharishi School. She worked at Maharishi School in administrative positions and then moved on to teaching science and math. Although she studied engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, Barbara didn’t graduate. So after 14 years of teaching, she decided to obtain her education degree at MUM.

Going to school was hard, Barbara says, and she had to use all the techniques she had taught her students to help her retain the knowledge. At the same time, she was excited by the challenge, and accomplishing a difficult task made it all the more satisfying.

For her student teaching, Barbara spent a semester at Mount Pleasant Community High School, where she taught seven classes five days a week, which is typical for public school teachers. “The number one thing I learned at Maharishi School and MUM is that if you are well-rested, children are delightful,” she said. “I don’t know how public school teachers teach without being able to practice TM. It’s such an essential tool. Especially for teachers.”

Barbara noticed that many of her students didn’t do their homework simply because they had too many other obligations. To improve their test scores, she restructured her classes so that students could get enough practice even if they skipped homework. She recognizes that learning seven different subjects each day is challenging for students, and she feels her job is to find the most efficient ways to teach them.

Barbara is not new to innovation. At Maharishi School she and co-teacher Richard Incorvia spent five years creating a project-based curriculum, which turned out to be an effective and fun learning method for students. Barbara likes pushing her limits and trying out new things, which is one of the reasons why Cardinal High School in Eldon hired her to teach math starting this fall.

MUM student Corine Alexandra Brooks grew up 20 miles from Fairfield, Iowa. When she was a senior in high school, she saw a pamphlet about MUM and came to a Visitors Weekend. She didn’t enroll then because she had started a family, but six years later she returned with her three children to attend MUM.

Corine is working on an individualized major in sustainability and a minor in business. The name of her individualized major is “Cultivating Holistic Sustainability” and is centered around a therapeutic ranch she plans to open in Fairfield. “The mission of Sustainable Roots Therapeutic Ranch is to help children and adults coming from crisis situations by offering holistic therapies, hands-on experiences, one-on-one education, and job training,” said Corine.

Corine is passionate about helping young people recover from PTSD and, after ten years of research, she is starting a nonprofit organization. Her ranch will be open to anyone and will offer art, music, and equine therapy, training in trade skills, regenerative organic agriculture, and the practice of the Transcendental Meditation^® technique. She wants to include the local community by offering services to people in the area, as well as utilizing local therapists and trainers to work on the ranch.

She finds MUM a great fit for her and her family because the block system allows her to focus on one class at a time, spend time with her children, and practice the Transcendental Meditation technique. “Taking time for myself to meditate is very beneficial,” she said. “I knew what I wanted to do but the TM technique made me centered and gave me the energy to make it happen.”

Two months ago, Corine had a chance to test some of her ideas. During the ChangeMakers conference in early April, she became intrigued by guest speaker Barry “Ra” Frye and his rehabilitation program for gang members in Chicago. A few weeks later Corine organized a week-long retreat on campus for Mr. Frye’s youth group, Pride ROC Chicago, which included visits to local farms, hands-on experience on the MUM Regenerative Organic Agriculture Farm, a discussion about preventing violence, and a performance at Dalby Hall.

MUM student Suhaib Mohamed holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Al-Neelain University, Khartoum, Sudan. After coming to the U.S. in 2015, he was looking to expand his education towards sustainability, and when he discovered MUM’s MBA in sustainable business program he thought it was the perfect fit.

Suhaib says he met the greatest people at MUM, whom he considers his brothers from all over the world. He feels that all of his fellow students care about the future of the world and want to create change. He was also excited to discover the Transcendental Meditation^® program. “I was looking for something like it, but didn’t know what it was, and I clearly found it here,” he said. “I wanted to connect to my Self. The idea of consciousness is a great idea; it connects us to all the human beings around the world.”

Suhaib is now working on his capstone project, which is a business plan in collaboration with the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa (CWJEA) in Iowa City, where he lives. His plan is to create a kitchen co-op for immigrant business owners to share a kitchen to run their restaurants or food businesses. The co-op would reduce the start-up costs for entrepreneurs and allow them to train others how to cook. In the fall, Suhaib will also be doing an internship with the CWJEA, which helps low-wage workers achieve social and economic justice.

Suhaib has always been concerned with social, economical, and political issues. In 2004 during the Darfur crisis, he was part of a volunteer youth group helping deliver supplies and food to those displaced by the war. Prior to coming to the U.S., he had a weekly television program on Sudan TV discussing youth-related issues. For his efforts to impact the lives of young people, he received the 2014 most influential figures of Sudan award and the 2016 Jack Bakhit Encouraging Award.

After graduating from MUM, Suhaib wants to continue serving his country because he believes that is the best way to use his education. With his skills and knowledge of the media, business, sustainability, and social justice he wants to improve the lives of people and inspire them to stay in Sudan and reduce emigration.