Before Mindvalley University, I was just another confused college student. I've always had a passion for mindfulness and personal growth, but I couldn't imagine myself ever successfully pursuing a career in it; nor did I ever imagine finding so many people my age who shared the same passions as me.
It had become abundantly clear that the path I chose when I went off to college was not a good environment for cultivating the life I wanted for myself. I was begrudgingly writing papers over and over again about topics that didn't matter to me and struggling to find friends with whom I truly connected. I often spent my time completely alone rather than trying to put on a brave face and make friends with people who I knew would not understand me.
I arrived in Barcelona a lonely, scared girl with no direction or real ambition. The following night, I went to the kick-off party. At first, I only talked to the one or two people I recognized, but more and more I started to feel at home in this crowd. With each person I met, I became more energized. Simply conversing with the people I had only just met set my soul aflame. Within only hours of meeting the Mindvalley U tribe, I had developed friendships more profound and numerous than I had in an entire year at traditional university back in the US.
Every day we would go through these amazing exercises and lessons during classes which really expanded our minds and showed us perspectives we had never before considered. This paved the way for profound conversation as we explored the city together and grew closer to each other. I watched us grow with each realization we came to together. Some nights these conversations became so intense that we would all end up hugging and crying. Each of us uncovered things in our pasts that we had yet to be so comfortable discussing. It's unbelievable how close you can get to someone you work and grow with in such a short period of time.
And all this while getting acquainted with one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, places I have ever seen. We developed a joke that in one day at Mindvalley U., one experiences the amount of craziness, joy, and newfound knowledge that the average person receives in a month, or maybe even a year. Although this experience was only one month long, it felt like I had spent years getting to know my new friends.
I have never felt so full and content. I now run a successful online personal development company for young adults with two people I met there, and we continue to connect and network with our fellow alumni.
Months later, I am still going back to the notes I took at those classes. My Mindvalley notebook is like silver and gold to me. Whenever I feel stuck in a difficult business decision I have to make, or can't seem to answer a philosophical question that's been occupying my mind, I just flip through the pages of those notes and the answer seems to find itself.
I can't thank Vishen and the team enough for this life-changing experience. It was so valuable to me in so many ways, and I can't wait to see where future years at this experimental university take me.
Months later, I am still going back to the notes I took at those classes. My Mindvalley notebook is like silver and gold to me. Whenever I feel stuck in a difficult business decision I have to make, or can't seem to answer a philosophical question that's been occupying my mind, I just flip through the pages of those notes and the answer seems to find itself.
I can't thank Vishen and the team enough for this life-changing experience. It was so valuable to me in so many ways, and I can't wait to see where future years at this experimental university take me.
