Brief comments first, detailed comments follow. Names retained with permission, and email addresses included. All of these whose emails are below would be glad to answer any questions they can about what it's like to be a student at the Institute.

As well, some current and ex-students have volunteered to be "online ambassadors": they'll be glad to share their experiences and answer any questions they can about what it's like to take the courses. Please feel free to write to them, too, to get a student's perspective:

Joyce Raine (jarjar@mscomm.com)
Joseph Magaditsch (ko6xb@pe.ne)
Kathryn Brown (kb.qn.sh@juno.com)
LeRoy Jones (Lemijones@compuserve.com)
Ruth Ahearn (rutha@bestweb.net)

Brief Comments:

• "Much thanks to a wonderful staff that shows their professionalism in a very warm and human way. I felt you all were always there to be of service and that gave the course that special "Baha'i" feel to it. Thanks and God bless you all."
  
  
• "I have never had such a rewarding experience as this course was. I enjoyed every minute, although I frequently felt overwhelmed."
  
  
• "The greatest `gain' for me has been the ability to share the faith in deepenings and adult Sunday school classes. I had never had the courage to do that before--even though I was a former teacher by profession. The confidence I have gained has allowed me to share with others in a new way. The second greatest benefit is the ability to learn from so many people across the country--people from whom I would not otherwise have an opportunity to learn. I feel at times like so many of us know a little, but when we put it all together it has woven a great quilt that can blanket the world."
  
  
• "Thank you for this incredible opportunity. All your hard work is worth it! My fellow group members and myself have been transformed! Bless you, dear friends.
  
  
• "I find the Wilmette Institute courses indispensible and a true attribute to deepening our understanding of the Cause. Without a priesthood, we have no choice but to continually expand our knowledge. We can deepen on our own, but the structured format keeps us focused and motivated and allows for an efficient and effective medium for questions/answers, etc. Thank you again for your service."
  
  
• "I'm looking forward to future courses!"
  
  
• "You have created a heavenly learning environment. Although the class is over, I have many notes from it awaiting more search - topics for firesides, papers, letters to individuals and organizations, etc."
  
  
• "I really feel as though I have, not just knowledge, but a deep understanding and love of the Faith for the first time. My sense of urgency coresponds to that of the letters we have been receiving over the last 3 years from The House and the NSA. My desire to teach is fearless, which just nine months ago was not true. Many thanks to all of you at Wilmette."
  
  
• "For me the Kitab-i-Aqdas was initially indecipherable. With the study provided, the Kitab-i-Aqdas has become the `symbol of the incomparable greatness of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah' as stated by the Universal House of Justice. As Baha'u'llah says, `Blessed those who peruse it! Blessed those who apprehend it! Blessed those who meditate upon it! Blessed those who ponder its meaning!' I feel very grateful to have been given the opportunity to be so blessed."
  
  
• "This course has given me more confidence in Teaching."
  
  
• "Much resource material was provided, and questions were answered by very knowledgeable scholars. I think the integrative process of learning, at some point, is just as important as the Ruhi process, which is very focused on a very limited amount of material."
  
  
• "You overwhelmed me with your enthusiasm for work. I turned around, and you were putting a huge compilation on the web. I blinked and you were feeding us old, forgotten manuscripts, teaching us about attachments, encouraging personally, and teaching us how to write essays and use reference books. It was wonderful. You are doing a fantastic job, let no one discourage you. And then on top of everything you are changing everything because you learned about the people you serve. Wow."
  
  
• "Thank you for all your great work and encouragement. I can honestly say that joining the Wilmette Institute made me more confident about pubic speaking and about myself. Thank you to all who are dedicated to this excellent institute."
  
  
• "You know, I have all these plans to write this and that, and the only reason I have them and feel confident about where I am going is because of the course! I needed something to set me on my way, so to speak. And with your guidance and encouragement, I proved to myself what I can do. Like I said, you can't buy that sort of result. Thanks again."

Detailed comments:

...the effect this course has had on my life is beyond words. Part of it, I'm sure, has to do with reading and assimilating the Word of God on a regular basis. In the past it was very difficult for me to read the Words of Baha'u'llah. I didn't understand it and [its] phrasing... Having the background has helped to put the quotes into perspective, and then I'm sure that it has had a resonating effect on my soul. It's been wonderful to have this connection with others... Many, many thanks for all of your effort in making this possible for us, and to all the others involved as well.

This course has changed my life. I feel I am beginning to see everything in a different light and my thought patterns, my daily life, and my love for Baha'u'llah and the Cause of God have become deeper than I ever thought possible. At first I felt overwhelmed by the work load but decided to make the commitment to finish the course in the first week of study even though, at that point, I felt terribly inadequate. I began to realize that I did not have to memorize everything I read but, rather, study it, get the meaning of it and hold it within my heart and soul so that my joy may help attract people to this Faith...

I was part of a [local study group] which was a unifying experience. The people I was in the group with have become extremely close and see each other in a different light. Our community has been affected by our deepenings, firesides and dramatic readings and become more active. I cannot thank the Wilmette Institute and the instructors enough for this gift and for all your time and effort. God bless you all! Thank you again for your comments and all your hard work - IT IS WORTH IT!

What an incredible course this has been. It is impossible to express all the changes and growth that being a participant has done for me and my family. Thank you for all you have done to make this a reality and for giving us a systematic and detailed study of the teachings. I believe that the one thing I misjudged about this course is its effect on me. I truly believed that I could read the Words of Baha'u'llah in a clinical manner and study them much as I would any other novel or historical event. What pride! No matter how hard I tried to keep the readings clinical, they have effected me tremendously. The aquiring of this knowledge has come with a price, as always when we are about to grow. It has brought many trials and test. It seems that daily, I am confronted with a new challenge...

Now that the course is coming to an end I would like to say a word or two about it. It did go awfully fast and was intense, but I preferred that. I didn't do as much or go in as deeply as I would have liked to, but the course will end and my self-study will never end. What is important is to get going in some way that becomes self-generating. That a person finds his or her way to keep going...

...Since the opportunities to teach the Faith beyond the most superficial level seem to be closed to me, I decided to teach myself, so I took this course. It opened up new vistas to me. I had very little idea of the level of discourse and the worlds of information being collected and being made available for the price of a telephone call. With this new tool (the Internet) I will be able to continue my deepening. As to my teaching, that is not your problem, I just wanted to put my evaluation of your course into perspective for my situation.

Your course is wonderful. Naturally you will evolve it and change it to respond to the needs of the Baha'is. This new evolution, spreading the courses out, is a healthy response to our needs. Some people will sign up with you and stay forever. I thought about it myself, but I've decided to take some time and make a notebook for my 20 and 22 year old sons and their friends of the best of the material I've collected. Then I'm going to make a book for myself of favorite quotations. It might get big, but I'll take the risk... Then I'm going to write a Baha'i vision series on different topics. It'll help me clarify my teaching (if anyone ever asks me a question). This will keep me moving.

You overwhelmed me with your enthusiasm for work. I turned around, and you were putting a huge compilation on the web. I blinked and you were feeding us old, forgotten manuscripts, teaching us about attachments, encouraging personally, and teaching us how to write essays and use reference books. It was wonderful. You are doing a fantastic job, let no one discourage you... And then on top of everything you are changing everything because you learned about the people you serve. Wow.

There is no other word for this experience and for the work that you have done. WOW. And thank you, very much. With your "mid-wivery" I, anyway, have been given a new impulse in my study of our beloved Faith.

...I took the Revelation of Baha'u'llah part two, the Akka period, last term. I can't tell you the impact of the Wilmette institute course on my life. I feel more connected to the Faith and the Tablets that were reveled By Baha'u'llah in that period, the history behind each Tablet, the hardship that He, His Family and His Followers went through. It made me appreciate and be proud to be a Baha'i.

Before taking the Wilmette Institute course, I never felt comfortable to talk or even give a comment about the Faith at any deepening or firesides. Since I joined the course in 98-99, Ifinished the four volumes of Taherzadeh, have given many talks at the local Baha'i school, have conducted deepening and firesides. Recently, three of our seekers and two other new believers in our community, showed interest in learning about the history of the Faith. We agreed to form a study group and read The Revelation of Baha'u'llah together. I couldn't have done this without the encouragement of the mentors.

I would forever be grateful of what the Wilmette institute have done and are doing. They are committed to helping us read and understand the Writings and to help spread the joy of sharing what we learned with others. THANK YOU.

...[T]he Wilmette Institute is one of the most incredible experiences I have had as a Baha'i and I highly encourage each of you and your loved ones to consider joining the Spiritual Foundations for a Global Civilization program....

I'd like to share with you a couple of reasons why the experience was so meaningful. First, the theme for this year was "An ever-advancing civilization." (Each year covers a different module) The subjects were so interesting and were taught by excellent faculty members who did not just lecture but who actively participated in our learning process. Many of the subjects we studied were ones that are not usually covered in Baha'i community deepenings or institutes such as agriculture, conflict resolution, literacy, environment, economics, politics, harmony of science and religion, universal auxiliary language, divine justice or the evolving role of the Universal House of Justice taught this year by Dr. Ruhe. Other subjects covered were ones we are more familiar with studying such as the oneness of humanity, world peace, equality of women and men, and the sacred texts. All of which were covered in such depth that I gleaned new insights into these basic teachings. We also took a field trip to a Zoroastrian Temple.

The other beautiful aspect of the Wilmette Institute was the spiritual atmosphere of learning and community that was created over the three weeks. We were completely immersed in study of the Faith in a friendly and relaxed environment that was not intimidating. Every evening we would have a student gathering such as an arts night or games night and we would also have evenings of informal time with faculty where we could ask the expert faculty members questions on any aspect relating to the Faith. It was truly a privilege to spend such quality time with each of the faculty and to build strong bonds of community with the students.

In addition, we also had the opportunity to pray together at the Holiest House of Worship and offer service at the Baha'i National Center. We were very determined as a group to not just study the Faith but to put our learning into concrete expressions of service, teaching and action.

"When I became a Baha'i, I was attracted to the social and economic principles, and to the social diversity. Most important, the people really seemed to live the concepts, not just speak these as intentions. However, I did not have a clear grasp of the Divine Source of these personal and institutional values. Similar to many others, I had the idea that the Faith was a homogenized version of the major world religions, with a holy man from some obscure eastern place as the inspiration, a Gandhi figure of sorts. Fortunately, in my first year as a Baha'i, I began the Revelations classes, which taught the Writings, the unfoldment of the dramatic historical story, and introduced me to the awesome presence of Baha'u'llah. As I read and learned and grew spiritually, I came to have a different world view, a new understanding of the nature of reality, a deeper appreciation for the role of sacred energies in daily life events, and a mature conceptualization of the relationship of God to man through the Manifestations. I got answers to the questions that plagued me for years: `Why would a loving God allow such suffering and depravity in the world? Why am I here? What meaning can be found in the confusion around me? Why do religions seem stale? Why is this world seeming to get worse instead of better?' Not only did I get those answers, and more; I also got past the confusing and intimidating, unfamiliar Arabic words and Islamic references that previously meant nothing. And I have developed a meaningful, living, compelling relationship with Baha'u'llah that continues to inspire me to learn, teach, and serve."