Emily Torres speaking at the 2020 MIU Graduation Awards Ceremony
In the Science and Technology of Consciousness class with Professors John Collins and Joe Holland
At the July 2019 TM-Sidhi Course graduation (photo by Jim Davis)
Emily Torres is one of MIU’s most recent graduates of 2020, with a bachelor’s degree in applied arts and sciences and an Outstanding Student Award.
Emily was studying psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when her counselor introduced her to the Transcendental Meditation® technique. After learning the TM® technique, she immediately felt a shift in consciousness. She attended a Visitors Weekend in May and enrolled in August 2018.
In North Carolina, Emily had a job taking care of young people on the autism spectrum. At MIU, she assisted a fellow student with cerebral palsy who is confined to a wheelchair. In addition, she was residential advisor in the women’s dorm, where she focused on creating safe and inclusive events to the diverse international student body.
As a member of a minority who has experienced prejudice and discrimination in school, Emily is sensitive to the needs of young people coming from different backgrounds. She wrote her senior thesis on multicultural education, researching systems that make all young people feel included, regardless of disability, race, or culture. She described the benefits of the Transcendental Meditation technique in helping students with self-awareness.
“TM helped me become more self-aware,” she said. “I was able to take more responsibility for the things that I was perpetuating and recognize how I internalized some of the prejudices of my environment.”
Emily wants to continue her research on finding innovative methods to address these issues of equity for students and the role of the TM® technique as part of a solution. She is now enrolled in MIU’s new master’s degree program in leadership and conflict resolution. She also plans to become a teacher of the Transcendental Meditation technique.