A student's experience at the Innovative Minerva University- Part 1
Global Immersion
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."
-Marcel Proust
Hi, this is the GenWise team- we bring out this newsletter to help parents and educators to complement the work of formal schools and associated systems. We can help our children thrive in these complex times only by exchanging ideas and insights and working together.
We are also a founder-member of Gifted World- if you are interested in issues related to gifted education and talent development, and are looking for resources for gifted students, do become a member of the Gifted World Community (membership is free).
Back in 2019, our co-founder, Vishnu Agnihotri heard about Minerva University, a unique higher education institution. He read about their approach in the book, Building the Intentional University and impressed by this, he met them at their office in San Francisco to learn more. He was struck by the similarities between what Minerva was doing and GenWise’s vision, especially with respect to nurturing ‘versatilists’. In 2023, he was delighted to learn that Arya Dharod, a gifted student, had joined Minerva to pursue his undergraduate studies. Arya’s family are big fans of Ei’s ASSET Talent Search test and our gifted summer programs- Arya attended 2 summer programs prior to the pandemic and his younger brother, Ayan attended 2 GenWise Gifted Summer Programs in 2022 and 2023.
Arya has been writing about his experiences at Minerva and has so far published 12 posts on his substack. We invited Arya to write about his Minerva experience for our substack, because we believe that learning about Minerva’s novel approach to education is relevant not only to high schoolers who will soon make college choices but also to all educators who want to deeply investigate the question of- what students should learn and how? We believe an approach like Minerva’s helps students to get ‘new eyes’ (see the Proust quote above)- an extremely important need for the world today.
In this post, Arya talks about the unique ‘Global Immersion’ aspect of Minerva’s program. He will also be covering their academic approach and the unique community experience that Minerva provides in subsequent posts over the next couple of months.
If you are a parent or educator of students in grade 10, 11 or 12, you may also be interested in our webinar tomorrow (Sun, Dec 8) at 11 AM in which GenWise mentor, Navin Kabra will talk about our Pathfinder program in May 2025 which is designed to help students making informed choices about their college and career paths. You can register for the webinar here.
Global Immersion at Minerva University
My innovative university takes me to San Francisco, Taipei, Seoul, Buenos Aires, Hyderabad, Berlin, and Tokyo over my four–year Undergrad…
You better believe it! Because I study at Minerva University, the #1 most innovative university in the world and the longest I study in one city is eight months, before I pack up my bags and re-define ‘home’.
Opening thoughts…
Don’t go to university just for the piece of paper you will be handed at graduation, titled ‘Degree’. Go for the holistic experience: engage in mind-blowing discussions, make lifelong friends, and find out what you truly desire out of life, both personally and professionally. Most importantly, remember to be intentional and well-informed before you decide which specific institution deserves four years of your time. These are formative years, and your university decision will undoubtedly impact your long-term worldview, perspectives, and life direction. Above all, please don’t just go with the flow and attend a university solely for its world ranking – ‘If you don’t know where you are going, then any path will take you there’.
Choosing to attend 9-year-old Minerva University was a bold and risky choice, but looking back, it has taken me to a higher orbit in every domain of my life. I want more high schoolers to be aware that such a university does exist for all ‘the round pegs in the square holes’ willing to take the leap. Through this blog series, I will share my authentic experience and understanding of Minerva University, for any high schooler interested in at least informing themselves about what the experience entails. More broadly, I hope that even if you decide against attending Minerva, my reflections allow you to make a more agentic decision about this next, exciting phase of your life called ‘university’…
This blog post will focus on Minerva’s global rotation (4 years, 7 cities). The next two posts will address ‘How academics work at Minerva’ and ‘What makes Minerva’s student community so special?’, respectively.
Without further ado, let’s dive right in…
Why these seven cities, specifically? Good question!
San Francisco, Taipei, Seoul, Buenos Aires, Hyderabad, Berlin, and Tokyo. The seven cities are intentionally chosen to be technology and cultural hubs, cosmopolitan and international in nature, with abundant professional opportunities, cultural shocks for any outsider, and easy access to resources (healthcare, etc.). Every Minerva student has at least 1-2 cities that brings significant cultural shocks and challenges, which could be Hyderabad for a German student, Seoul for an Indian student, or Tokyo for a British student. But you almost always have some locals of the city or at least country in each class, to aid you in navigating these tricky waters of cultural assimilation!
Notice how the seven cities are so diverse in terms of their trajectory of economic development, cultural history, and even the basic values/beliefs like Individualism vs. Collectivism. A lot of cultural nuances or values which students learn in San Francisco have to be entirely un-learnt during their semesters in Seoul or Hyderabad, for example!
We don’t have our own ‘Minerva campus’ in any of the cities. Minerva wants its students to live in each city like a working professional without the ‘comfortable bubble’ a campus provides. We all live together in 1 or 2 separate buildings (residence halls) with the basic facilities of a serviced apartment, but nothing else. Minervans have to get out into the city streets to find restaurants, gyms, library, cafes, grocery stores, everything. This forces us to interact with the city and its locals on a daily basis, leaving the academic bubble regularly and experiencing the realities of what it is like to live in the heart of these cosmopolitan and vibrant cities, like a true local would.
Structured city engagement facilitated by Minerva
Beyond exploring the museums, hiking through the parks, enjoying local street food, and chatting with so many locals, Minerva intentionally forces its students to engage with each city through:
· Civic projects: Semester-long projects that students engage in with local organizations, businesses, NGOs, local governments of each city to build valuable work experience while understanding micro and macro details of working cultures in various countries. For example, in San Francisco, my team worked with a local performing arts centre in Chinatown to promote their events across social media platforms, over a period of eight months.
· Location-based assignments (LBA): Every semester, every course a student takes involves at least one LBA which is an assignment that forces students to engage with the city deeply as an academic and a local. For example, history students might design a historical walking tour of a specific neighbourhood in the city, while political science students may have to participate in a political rally/demonstration in their city and then write a report on their observations and reflections from the experience.
· Staff-led experiences: The student life team in each city comprises locals who can integrate students deeper into the culture by offering workshops, experiences, guided tours with their local contacts in the city, allowing for deeper immersion. This could look like a guided tour of San Francisco city hall by one of its employees, a Traditional Chinese Medicine workshop in Taipei, or a visit to Hyderabad’s ‘T Hub’ to interact with local tech founders.
But why does the global rotation matter so much to the Minerva philosophy?
A few less obvious benefits of the global rotation, apart from the ‘excitement of it all’:
· Building a truly global network across four continents- At the end of the four years, if a Minervan puts in some effort into their civic projects, location-based assignments, plus attending some networking events and conferences in each rotation city, they can proudly claim to have a network of working professionals, in different industries, across the globe instead of just concentrated in one country, which opens up a wide variety of career opportunities.
· Becoming culturally sensitive- Minervans learn by making mistakes, like the embarrassment of talking too loud in a Korean metro, but over time, we learn to be culturally sensitive and sharply attentive to the dynamics and rules of different cities and organizations, which also makes us excellent team members in multi-cultural groups of the international organizations we hope to work for after graduating.
· Embracing uncertainty and thriving in chaos- Life after graduation, personally and professionally, isn’t a cakewalk. But I think Minerva prepares us better than the average American university by throwing us into novel and unfamiliar situations, time and time again. Figuring everything out from scratch every four months, right from a new phone number, bank account, gym membership, favourite coffee shop, metro system, language, cultural norms, drastically reduces the time that a Minervan takes to get familiar with a place and a new way of life.
Closing thoughts…
At the end of these four ‘roller-coaster-of-a-ride’ years and the novelty of switching ‘home base’ every four months, you can confidently throw a Minervan into any city, in any corner of the world, and be fairly certain that he/she will be able to quickly adapt and thrive in that locality. The experience is intense but worth it!
Some more fascinating Minerva content…
I had a beautiful conversation with Julia Ip, Minerva Class of 2022. We talked about the global rotation, the choice of these seven cities, her personal culture shocks in Hyderabad and Seoul, the special nature of the Minerva community, described the typical ‘Minervan’ applicant profile, and so much more!
Episode:
I publish a monthly newsletter at Minerva which encompasses:
· One new place I visited in each rotation city and macro reflections/takeaways
· A practical tip for college living, applicable to all high school and college students.
· An exciting concept/theory I learnt in one Minerva course during the month
· One student spotlight: Detailed interviews with my classmates/professors on their personal and professional journey leading up to Minerva and past accomplishments.
· And tons of college-life photos that will surely bring a smile to your face!
Here’s a link if you are interested in taking a peek:
Also check out the ‘Humans of Minerva’ podcast which features Minerva students, alumni, professors, staff, plus President Mike Magee sharing their life journeys with authenticity and passion. This will give you a feel for the type of human beings that choose to study, teach, and work at Minerva.
Podcast:
Resources for further personal exploration
Unjaded Jade: My first week in San Francisco:
Day in the life of Minerva students in Hyderabad:
Minerva student shares her personal experience with the global rotation:
Civic projects in Buenos Aires:
Location-based Assignments with an example:
If you have absolutely any further questions about Minerva, please feel free to reach out to arya@serenestrokes.com