MIU student Ethel Paris introduced and helped organize the African American Culture Series, the first African American celebration at MIU. Held during Black History Month in February, the series included presentations about the influence of African American music in America, famous black scientists and inventors, and the black resistance movement, where Ethel gave a talk about her time in the Black Panther Party in the 1960s.

Ethel joined the Black Panther Party at age 18 in Oakland, California, looking for a way to be part of a community and feel empowered about her heritage. But she soon became disillusioned with the leadership and left the party.

She wanted to change her life and decided to become vegetarian. She soon began practicing yoga, and eventually became a yoga teacher. She has taught free yoga classes in community centers and recreational centers for over 30 years in her hometown of Philadelphia, and later became a massage therapist. Ethel says she has been on a spiritual path for 45 years.

A few years ago, she heard about MIU from an alumna friend. Ethel never attended college, so she was concerned about keeping up. But the block system of one course at a time and her desire to learn Maharishi AyurVeda^SM made her eager to enroll.

When Ethel arrived on campus, she felt at ease right away. “I could feel a different energy; it was very life-supporting and things just started happening,” she said. She learned the Transcendental Meditation^® and TM-Sidhi^® programs, and experienced even more support of nature as well as emotional and mental stability.

“What I had experienced before as a yogi was turning myself off from the world totally,” Ethel said. “That was a different path. With TM, I can be in the world and also be able to deal with it.”

Ethel is graduating this summer with a BA in Ayurveda Wellness and Integrative Health. She wants to return to Philadelphia and work as an Ayurveda consultant.

MIU alumnus Almar Meijles recently completed the construction of a small Maharishi Vāstu^® campus in Indonesia for the NextGen Purusha^SM program, which caters to young men who want to dedicate their time to research in consciousness and studying Maharishi’s knowledge.

Almar and fellow students came up with the idea of building small affordable Vāstu housing during a class in entrepreneurship offered by MIU’s Concept to Market Institute. In subsequent classes he developed a business plan and consulted mentors and potential investors in the community. He graduated in 2017 and had to return to his home country of the Netherlands before being able to implement his plan.

Soon he headed to Indonesia, where his real-estate-developer brother offered to work with Almar on a project in Jakarta. Eager to get some experience, Almar helped develop a small residential compound just outside the city.

His next opportunity came when his family decided to repurpose a property they owned in the mountainous region of West Java. Almar took on the challenge after carefully investigating his options. “The creative entrepreneurship program really taught me how to do proper market research and see what the possibilities are,” he said.

This time, Almar was ready for a project that would implement the principles of Maharishi Vāstu design as well as sustainable construction. After learning that the Maharishi Purusha^SM program was looking for a new campus, he contacted a Vāstu architect. Three weeks later they broke ground on the family property and completed the construction of three new buildings within seven months.

“Things came together so quickly,” said Almar. “It was the support of nature. Being more attuned to my innermost self, which is connected to everything else, made the whole process smoother. That’s the biggest benefit I have gotten from the TM and TM-Sidhi programs.”

The one-acre campus includes 16 single rooms, a dining hall, a meditation hall, and a garden with hundreds of tropical fruit trees and a variety of organic vegetables.

The Computer Science department recently surveyed its graduating students about their experience at MIU and they have expressed appreciation and gratitude. Many students praised the quality of education and the relevance of the subjects taught in the program.

“It was a wonderful experience doing the Master’s in Computer Science at MIU. The curriculum is the latest and the faculty is highly experienced. Everything at MIU made me feel at home. It was a good decision to do my master’s there.”

“The program provides courses that help you to thrive in the professional world. The courses are taught by experienced professors who have gained experience in the IT industry.”

Students were also appreciative of the incorporation of the Transcendental Meditation^® technique in the curriculum and the personal growth they have experienced as a result of it.

“The habit of practicing Transcendental Meditation helps a lot to improve personal and professional life. So my overall experience of the MSCS program has been amazing.”

“MIU helped me in many ways to develop myself spiritually and intellectually. Even though I was very hesitant to get an education from a Consciousness-Based university, I think I have made one of the best decisions of my life. Not only have I fulfilled my career desires, I have also fulfilled that missing part in me by developing my spiritual side.”

Another area of fulfillment for students is the international student community and the caring staff and faculty.

“Thanks for providing a great career growth and advancement opportunity with no discrimination to race or country of origin.”

“I am also forever thankful for the opportunities to meet so many wonderful, nice, and kind friends here. It all started with MIU and this beautiful country which connected us as one.”

“I am very grateful to the admission officers, faculty, coordinators, coaches, and many other staff who were professional, supportive, friendly, open, and attentive from enrollment till graduation.”

“Thank you, MIU, for being a second home and a family.”

The Computer Professionals Program has been running for over 23 years and is the 2nd largest Master’s in Computer Science Program in the US. Over 3,000 students have graduated from 100 countries and found internships at top US companies, including many Fortune 500 companies.

Edgar Endo is a student in MIU’s Master’s in Computer Science Program, who recently created a Web page that tracks coronavirus cases in his home country of Brazil.

Edgar is from the town of Itapeva in southern Brazil. He earned a bachelor’s degree in information technology and worked as a teacher in a regional vocational school for computer technicians. Last year he found MIU on Facebook and became interested in the Computer Science Program. He tracked down Brazilian MIU alumni and, after talking to them, joined the program last August.

After completing his last class in modern web applications, he was looking for an area where he could apply what he had learned about creating single-page applications. He noticed that there wasn’t a city-by-city breakdown of COVID-19 cases in Brazil on the Internet.

“Brazil is a huge country and nobody was showing any local data,” said Edgar. “I wanted to present the data so anyone could view it on a cell phone or computer.”

After finding the source of the data, he visualized the information by creating a real-time interactive map. He shared his web page on Facebook and the number of daily visitors is continually increasing. “This is going to help a lot of people in Brazil to get fresh data from all states in one place,” he said. “I’m feeling grateful to MIU to be able to be this useful in this moment.”

Edgar has enjoyed his time at MIU, especially the opportunity to work with people from all around the world. He has also found the practice of the Transcendental Meditation® program useful in helping him relax and focus his mind. “When I am tired at work, I can stop and do my TM practice and go back to work with more energy,” he said.

Edgar has completed his on-campus coursework and is now looking for a paid internship position in the US while finishing the rest of his degree online.