Testimonials

Catholic University of Lublin, Poland (received August 2, 2025)

My four-week study stay at the Hephzibah Mountain Aster Academy in February 2024, under the guidance and care of Prof. Lauren F. Pfister and Mrs. Pfister, could best be described as “experiencing an ancient academy in a modern age.”

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As a child, I was enchanted by stories of ancient Greek philosophers and Chinese sages, masters who lived and taught among their pupils in academies established at beautiful places, where learning was not confined to books, but infused into daily life. That vision of a life where wisdom is shared in companionship and contemplation took root in my early years and dreams. Yet, as I grew, it collided with the reality of a rigid, biased, results-driven massive educational system, where curiosity, creativity, and self-discovery were often stifled beneath exams and grades. I often questioned within myself: in our time, could true and delightful teaching and learning still exist?

During the four snowy weeks I spent at HMAA in the high Rockies, I discovered that the dream I had as a child still lives. The academy, cradled in a retreat-like silence and shimmering snow, offered testimony to the fact that true, genuine, open-minded, and transformative teaching and learning can still flourish in this age. It remains realistic to teach and learn in a spirit of reverence, wonder, and shared purpose. I arrived at HMAA with a formally proposed research topic, hoping to emerge from a time of painful academic stagnation. Gradually, under Prof. Pfister’s thoughtful guidance, where Socratic inquiry met Confucian mentorship, my ideas emerged not only in the beautiful and quiet Koinonia Library Hall, where deer and rabbits roamed outside. Also, my spirit was uplifted by contemplative walks through the snow-laden woods, and through the warmth experienced during shared meals at the hearth.

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Surely, what I experienced was far more than an academic revival; it was a way of living. Learning and self-cultivation happened through cooking and enjoying meals together, chatting jovially, gathering firewood, sweeping snow to make paths, visiting the community and the sick, observing wild animal visitors, watching the twinkling winter stars, seeing the majestic ranges of the Rockies, witnessing the first light of sunrise and the last ray of sunset from mountain peaks, and letting philosophical thought flow naturally into daily life. Under the loving care of Prof. Pfister and Mrs. Pfister, and the solid work of the board members, the academy has become not just a center for developing and completing research projects, but a living home of reflection, insight, connection, and contemplation.

A pupil’s project at HMAA is confronted by Prof. Pfister’s probing questions—questions that compel one to critically turn inward, to examine with honesty and care what those inquiries truly call to the mind and heart. Following this method, learning begins not with the accumulation of knowledge or aiming for high grades at exams, but with the courage to follow one’s own train of thought and interests; it nourishes curiosity and creativity, leading to more diligent and fruitful work. Through sharp yet compassionate guidance offered by Prof. Pfister, a pupil learns to think independently, to reflect critically, and to research with rigor and integrity. The training is both encouraging and exacting, designed not to shape one’s work according to some preconceived standard, but to awaken genuine insights into the life of a scholarly mind and a discerning heart. Here, a pupil is not merely a student, but a full and conscious participant in an intellectual, reflective, and spiritual way of life, one that seeks not only knowledge, but meaning and wisdom. With the near completion of a grant project reviewed by Prof. Pfister as the principal evaluator, and the publication of an international journal article, I shall cultivate the seeds of future research, sown beneath the nourishing snow of my first stay at HMAA, with the hope they will soon sprout into blossoming flowers and bear much fruit in seasons to come.

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Prof. Pfister’s teaching and the HMAA’s vision have breathed life into those stories I once read as a child. They have made that dream come true for me! What I now know is a pattern of scholarly learning that I shall continue to pursue in the years ahead.