For the past six months, World CARP members from Russia, Asia and America have been witnessing on campuses all over the country. Everywhere they go, they're finding that times have changed. With the virtual disappearance of the radical left, CARP is one of the few truly active national student organizations. More than 9,000 students have attended World CARP programs, and almost 1,000 have graduated from workshops and seminars. Hundreds of others are working together with us on various service projects.
Success brings its own challenges, however. How can we continue to nurture and inspire these young people? How can we help them make the kind of contribution to society that the world so needs from young people?
With these questions very much in mind, World CARP President Jin Hun Park Moon has announced the opening of the World CARP Academy this coming June, in Boulder, Colorado, . "Today's students all want to do good," he says, "They want to be global-minded. They want to be real, to be involved in their communities and world-politically, socially, and environmentally. They want to make a positive contribution but often don't really know how. And the World CARP Academy will show them!"
Designed for primarily college students and graduates, the Academy offers a four-stage curriculum: service, character training through fundraising, academy classes and internship. The purpose of the Academy is very simple: to prepare young people for life in the 21st Century, based on the principles of unselfish living and for the world. Or, as the Academy puts it, "Win the future!"
Why The Academy?
A year at the World CARP Academy is designed to supplement formal schooling in a very important way, based upon the insights of Unification Principle . A great debate is raging in this country about the future of education. Dismayed by falling academic and moral standards, and an increasing level of violence in schools and colleges, almost everyone would agree that we need new values to guide our education system. What those values should be, however, remains fiercely contested.
According to the Unification Principle, the goal of education is nothing less than the cultivation of individuals and society with divine character. We are meant to resemble God in heart, thought and action. To accomplish this awesome task, we need three types of education: education of heart, education of norm (character), and intellectual education to be a genius.
The education system'' in most countries provides only the last of these types of education. It is a means for proficiency both in the accumulation of knowledge and the acquisition of technical skills; but largely ignores the knowledge and skills required to develop a mature personality and build meaningful, harmonious relationships with other members of our world family, skills essential for a fulfilled and happy life. The Academy hopes to help fill in these missing elements.
Entrance is open to all students, and it is expected that the Academy will be particularly popular among those students who have been studying Unification Principle with CARP, and who now want to experiment with a more committed lifestyle for a definite time period.
Service
I slept and dreamed that life was happiness. I awoke and saw that life was service. I served and found that in service happiness is found. - Rabindranath Tagore
Service is one of the best ways to begin an education of the heart. Academy students will learn what it means to live for others, and share others' lives, by first participating in a major service project of one to two months duration, either in the United States or overseas. Throughout the year, students will have further opportunities to invest in their community through local service projects, many of their own creation.
"In helping others, you will be helping yourself, says Kathy Winings, Director of the WCA Service Program. "Your life will change. You'll overcome prejudices, make friends that will last a lifetime and beyond, and create an environment where cooperation, harmony and true love thrives. Your family will grow beyond your immediate siblings, you'll come to love brothers and sisters you never knew before."
Team Fundraising
Team Fundraising, the second stage of the Academy year, is a very practical method of education of character. Students will be developing self-confidence and communication skills; learning self- discipline, and the importance of goal-setting for accomplishment. Under the direction of an experienced fundraising leader, they'll travel throughout the USA for about four months, visiting many states and cities and meeting people from all walks of life. The money raised through fundraising help to support the Academy and its service activities.
Fundraising is, of course, a time honored tradition in American society. From groups such as the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, to churches, to school fund drives, the activity of solicitation is a well recognized means to raise money.
According to MFT Director Fred Lacroix, .what makes World CARP fundraising special is that it combines character training and personal growth with the necessity of raising money, "You'll become a valuable team player and contribute your unique abilities to the larger community," he says. "You'll learn how to set and reach goals. And you'll experience a warmth and camaraderie from your team-mates that will be hard to forget."
Academy Classes
Academy Classes will review and expand the practical lessons learned during the period of service and fundraising with a wide-ranging exploration and discussion of ethics and morality.
The program starts with a review of the Unification Principle. Each major section-Principles of Creation, Cause of Human Conflict and Restoration Principles-is presented from a non-doctrinal, common sense perspective, reflecting the profound simplicity of the ideas as well as the many implications which they have upon our ever-changing reality. We examine the collected wisdom of the world's great religions and philosophies, and learn from the common tenets of these traditions.
Special attention is paid to discussions of human relationships, particularly between men and women. Despite the importance of a successful marriage and family for personal happiness and societal stability, our education system has little to say about true love and hardly provides the proper preparation for marriage and raising children. But at the Academy, these most important issues get the attention they deserve.
Though classroom-based, this stage of the Academy year is far from being just dry theory. We'll be living according to a high ethical code, and discovering for ourselves the purity and sacredness of original human relationships. Sports, exercise and optional martial arts lessons will help maintain a healthy bodily discipline. At the same time, other classes will provide the opportunity to sharpen various practical and technical skills.
Internships
Internships of six to ten weeks will complete the one-year Academy program. Sadly, a college degree is no guarantee of a good job these days. Employers are looking for a lot more than just good grades on a resume. They want to know about other interests and skills, evidence of social concern, such as any volunteer work, and, of course, experience.
The World CARP Academy internship program gives students a powerful advantage. They can gain experience in an area related to their own career goals, and see whether they're really suited for the job. Or branch out into something completely new and experiment with a totally different area of interest. Current possibilities include ocean training, teaching in the CIS, journalism, business, video editing and directing, and CARP's Congressional leadership institute-experiences that will enhance any resume.
Academy intern programs give students the chance to put it all together. They'll being doing much more than demonstrate technical ability. They'll be showing how much they've developed as a person; and how they've learned a deeper level of heart, love and compassion. Though internships are unpaid, we're certain that these experiences will enhance any resume.
Academy Life
Life in the World CARP Academy will be structured and filled with activity.
But whether out on a service project, fundraising, studying at the Academy or working on an internship program, there are always optional extra-curricular activities. In Colorado, for example, there will be expeditions such as Alpine or cross-country skiing, white-water rafting, rock-climbing or canyon trekking. Won Hwa Do, the unified martial art, is taught at the Academy and regular promotion tests are available.
Having fun at the Academy is easy. There are international nights, open to the general public, a celebration in food, song and art. Learning about and appreciate the cultural traditions of others, and of course share one's own heritage. And there are movie nights, in- house competitions including oratory, debate, table-tennis, volleyball and pool, and so much more.
Now, the World CARP is busy recruiting candidates for the class of 1995/96, with CARP members all around the country being joined by Campus Ministers, US alumni and others in spreading the news of this great new venture.
Academy founder Jin Hun Park Moon has this message for aspiring candidates: "One year is a small investment for a lifetime of returns. When you go back to college, your intellect will be sharpened, your desire and motivation to study will be greatly enhanced, and above all your personal life will be on very solid ground. You'll be in an excellent position to win the future, whatever future you choose."
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