This is my story…

I first heard about MIU in my sophomore year of high school during an English camp conducted in my hometown, Gobisumber province. There was a girl (actually a sister) whose English was great so I had to ask how she learned it so well and where she studied. I wanted to learn English so badly! There was a chance to talk with her during one of the activities and she said she was in her Junior year studying at MIU. She said MIU teachers were really good, very friendly and loving so I thought it would be cool if I studied there! The only problem was that the tuition fee was a little higher than I could afford and I thought I might not be able to study there. 

After my high school graduation I took a gap year to improve my English. I actually promised my parents that I would study abroad in the next year because I thought studying in a foreign country would make life better. So, I began preparing for the IELTS exam. Looking back I don’t think it was a very good promise to make because I couldn’t speak or write in english at all. I was studying so intensely, day and night. It was hard to accept but during my gap year I realized I couldn’t achieve a high enough score for the IELTS to go abroad with a scholarship. 

I had no friends and no community. I had a lot of internal problems but I didn’t know why I had them. These issues I was having were consuming a lot of my time and energy. It seemed like one failure after another and I began hating myself. I thought if I couldn’t study abroad then MIU is the only hope that could pull me from my misery and give me meaning in my life. My parents didn’t like the idea at first but thankfully all the financial problems were solved!

Long story short, MIU changed my life in a good way. In my freshman year I was happy that I enrolled at MIU but my life was still pretty miserable. I was always late for my classes, failing my exams, and I ended up being called out by my department chair to either study well or fail. I was so scared when this happened. Actually, I knew that I needed to study hard. But I didn’t know how to balance my school and personal life well because I was in so much pain. It was difficult to process everything well. I ended up partying to forget my all pain. Partying and school became a normal cycle of my life. But one thing that gave me a glimpse of hope during this season was the MIU counseling center run by Jennifer bagsh. 

While I was still failing classes and doing all kinds of bad things, she was the one who loved me. At that time I couldn’t comprehend why she loved me so much (which she still does). It was not natural for someone to love me like she did and I thought it must be something supernatural because I was only familiar with conditional love. If I studied well and got an A in my classes or if I got a medal in a competition only then would I feel loved and valuable. I would say that it was at this moment in my life where I was felt the least lovable but still Jennifer bagsh loved me. 

In the spring semester of my freshman year many people invited me to an Open Fellowship. It was such a different place and experience for me. I felt so much peace and I loved it. From that time on I began attending Open Fellowship regularly and it was in this moment that I made some big decisions in my life which really turned it upside down. 

Ever since then, my heart has become so peaceful which is something I had never experienced before. I found so many good friends there who loved me and encouraged me to be who I was meant to be. Moreover, my academic performance improved which was a great surprise. My GPA in my freshman year was a 2.3 and it became a 3.8 during the fall semester of my sophomore year. In my senior year I earned a full scholarship because my junior GPA was a 4.0. I also began working in the dormitory as an RA taking care of students. I also worked part-time in MIU to assist with the translation and research in the psychology program. 

Looking back at all of these external changes in my life like the improvement of my grades, my social connections and my GPA were a result of something that changed internally. I wonder if I had never found peace my freshman year would I still have made these achievements? I don’t think I would have been able to do all those things by myself. I never would have imagined I would be able to do such things when I came to MIU for the first time.

I love MIU so much; the faculty and professors; the people who shared good news with me. But the best part of my MIU life are the professors and friends who love me unconditionally. They have been there at my lowest points, crying with me and comforting me. They have also been there at my highest points celebrating my wins and victories. They are the kind of people who love me greatly and also the ones I can show love to as well. 

If the trauma and wounds that we carry were caused by people they can also be healed through other people who love wholeheartedly. I love to see healing happen in my heart and in other peoples’ hearts as well. If I were to sum up my experience in MIU in one word I would say “healing”… I found healing at MIU. A lot of emotional, spiritual and mental healing happened in MIU over these past years and is still happening today! 

I know many MIU students are struggling with a lot of family and relational problems or internal burdens. They may have no clue where these problems came from and it’s bothering them so much that they can’t focus on their studies just like I couldn’t during my freshman year. I completely understand them and I would love to share my story of how I overcame my struggles and burdens. 

For freshmen and future students I would like to say never lose heart because there is hope in life and MIU is a great place to find it. Seek and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened.