Anil Jethmal graduated from Bowdoin College in 1987 with a degree
in Economics. While he feels fortunate
to receive his education from an institution that perennially ranks as one of
the top ten in U.S News and World Report’s Best College Report, Anil wishes
there was one class offered back then that is offered now.
During a recent summer vacation in Maine with his family,
Anil Jethmal decided to visit his alma mater.
During his tour of the campus, Anil noticed a “new” building. The Peter Buck Center for Health and Wellness
had opened and been available to students starting in September of 2009. It was a stunning facility, to be sure. However, what really caught Anil Jethmal’s
attention was the fact that it was also where a course titled Mindfulness in Education
was taught. The course, Anil was told,
focuses on the ancient eastern arts of mindful wellness through activities such
as yoga, meditation and mindful eating.
At first blush, one might surmise that the course is a “gut”
(college term for easy class), especially when one considers that Bowdoin
College is an institution that is known to have a rigorous curriculum. Anil Jethmal asked his tour guide that very
question. He was told that quite the
opposite is the case. Bowdoin College
students are used to digesting large amounts of information and writing hundreds
of pages of term papers on a regular basis.
And while “Mindfulness in Education” does require a lesser degree of
those demands, Anil Jethmal was told, it focuses on a mindful awareness and rewiring
of personal habits….a much more difficult endeavor to learn and master for
those who have not had any prior experience or training.
As an individual steeped in the world of high finance and
all of its pressures, Anil Jethmal discovered many years ago the value of
mindfulness. Anil’s particular brand of
mindfulness was self-taught due to an occupational hazard of constant pressure
and stress. During his Bowdoin tour, Anil couldn’t help but envy those who have
the opportunity to study this art under much more idyllic conditions. However, more overwhelming, was a sense of
pride that his alma mater, Bowdoin College, widely recognized as among the
best, if not the best, had taken it up a notch.
