Frequently Asked Questions

This list of Frequently Asked Questions regarding Rise is for parents, prospective Rise students, and  for Baha’i institutions who may wish to know more about the purpose of Rise and the self-funding of Rosa University.

• Why did you use a parrot on the front page of the Rosa Rise website?

• Why is Rosa University only for American Indian Baha’is?

Indigenous Alaska Natives and American Indian Baha’is throughout the Americas share a destiny given to them by Abdu’l-Baha. What that destiny means and how they will achieve it is largely up to them. At this time, the Founding Class of Rise is a singular place for young American Indian Baha’is between the ages of 17 and 22 to work together and develop internet startup entrepreneurial skills through real-world application of those skills.. Rise is not a school in the traditional sense. Of course there is a great deal of training and discussion, but indigenous youth are not children, so Rise is a learn-by-doing startup office environment and a transformative experience that empowers young American Indian Baha’is – without any prior work or business experience – to create the future.

• Sometimes you say “young American Indian Baha’is” and do not mention Alaska Natives, are Rise and Rosa University for both or not?

In the Tablets of the Divine Plan mentions the “indigenous population” and Indians; Abdu’l-Baha says, “Attach great importance to the indigenous population of America.” The Rosa University system will serve the indigenous population of the Americas which includes the Native or indigenous population of North America including Canada and Alaska and Mexico and Central America and South America and, also, Greenland because it is part of the Americas and the majority of Greenlanders are Eskimos. When “young American Indian Baha’is” are mentioned this includes the entire indigenous population of these regions including the natives of Alaska and Greenland.

• We are all Baha’is, is it fair to have an internet startup entrepreneur school only for one group of believers?

There are many kinds of schools. Some are for boys only. Some are for girls only. Some are for medical students only. Some are only for police officers. Rise is for indigenous Alaska Natives and American Indian Baha’is only who like a great challenge and a great adventure and want to bend their wills and work to create the circumstances that will build and self-fund the Rosa University system throughout the Americas. In other words, the work-study innovation of Rise and the Rosa University system enables the indigenous Baha’is of the Americas the dignity of self-funding their own education and illumination through the establishment of a transformative university system.

• Can young indigenous Alaska Native Baha’i and American Indian Baha’i women attend Rosa Rise?

Rise seeks bright-eyed students who are excited about the opportunity and challenge of becoming internet entrepreneurs. The goal is to have tribal and gender diversity. To begin with twenty students between the ages of 17 and 22 from twenty different indigenous tribes is ideal. Both females and males are welcome. Of course, females will have their own living quarters and bathrooms, separate from the living quarters and bathrooms of the male students. All students must commit to practice the high standards of Baha’i values, virtues, and moral behavior.

• Is smoking allowed?

The behavior of the Founding Class of Rise will set the tone for the behavior and comportment of all future students of the Rosa University system throughout the Americas. Therefore no smoking, no drinking of alcohol, and no use of drugs, and no cursing, and no violence and absolutely no expression of tribal or other forms of prejudice will be allowed or tolerated on or off the grounds of the Rise school. In addition, the behavior and achievements of the Founding Class of Rise will be closely watched by the sheltering wing of Baha’i institutions. Also, the prayers of your Local Spiritual Assembly, and National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the Americas, and the Universal House of Justice will be petitioned by Rise students, and, similarly, the prayers of the elders and spiritual healers in your tribes will surround and uplift you to give you the strength to “Walk in Beauty” and “Talk in Beauty” and to accomplish a great purpose.

While the Rise internet startup experience will be fun and challenging for all its participants, Baha’u’llah tells how the students of Rise, and later in the future those at Rosa, must behave and how they will use these virtues to create the circumstances that will accomplish their overarching objective of taking action to “enlighten the whole world”:

“The companions of God are, in this day, the lump that must leaven the peoples of the world. They must show forth such trustworthiness, such truthfulness and perseverance, such deeds and character that all mankind may profit by their example.”

• Do I have to have good grades or have graduated to attend Rise?
  

All American Indian Baha’i and Alaska Native Baha’i students between the ages of 17 and 22 are welcome to apply through their Local Spiritual Assembly no matter their grades or whether or not they’ve graduated. The essential skills members of the Founding Class of Rise need to have are an ability to read, write, and speak English, and have basic math skills. That means you have to be add to add, subtract, multiply and divide. You must be willing to concentrate and think and be able to buckle down and challenge yourself to work alone and with Teams. Also, you must love the internet and know how to type and use a computer. You don’t have to be a computer nerd but nerds are welcome.

• Can Special Needs students apply?

Rise is unqualified at this time to provide assistance of any kind to students with Special Needs or afflictions. Nor to individuals with addictions, for example, to alcohol or drugs. In the future, however, this may change. For now, if you have Special Needs and love to work with computers and can read and write English, and or Spanish, you may be able to work at home with Rise in another capacity. If this interests you and you think you would like to do so, please consult with your Local Spiritual Assembly for more information six months after Rise officially opens.

• Will Rise provide an internet startup entrepreneur home-study program?

There is no home study program at this time. However, no matter how young or old you are, if you love the internet and love to work with computers and can read and write English, and or Spanish, and want to work at home you may be able to do some interesting things at home that will help Rise to achieve its ever present objective which is to self-fund and enable future Founding Classes of Rise. If so please consult with your Local Spiritual Assembly for more information six months after Rise officially opens. By then, Rise will have exciting news for you.

• Who is classified as an American Indian Baha’i?

The Founding Class of Rise will have no more than 20 students. At this time, Rise will be asking 20 or more Local Spiritual Assemblies on Indian Reservations or Reserves to recommend one qualified student from their community. If you are an American Indian Baha’i between the age of 17 and 22 who does not live on a reservation, or you are an Alaska Native or a Canadian Indian you may consult with your Local Spiritual Assembly and ask them to contact Rise on your behalf.

• Can I attend if I am a South American Indian or an Indian from Central America or Mexico?

If you are an American Indian Baha’i from anywhere in the Americas you are eligible to consult with your Local Spiritual Assembly and submit a request to attend. Rosa is a university system that will be established throughout the Americas, however, at this time Rise classes will be in English so if you speak, read, and write English fluently, no matter where you live, consult with your Local Spiritual Assembly and ask them to contact Rise on your behalf.

• What does it cost to attend Rise?

Rise does not wish to burden your parents or your Baha’i Community. There is no tuition, therefore no charge. Room and board and all learning materials are provided. In addition, Rise is fully provisioned learn-by-doing startup office environment with all the computer and other equipment needed by those who commonly work in an internet startup entrepreneurial environment. Although students do not pay to attend Rise, they pay their own way by agreeing to a full time and full-hearted participation in all the work-study programs of Rise which include, but are not limited to, the spiritual development conditioned by the ardent study of Ruhi Institute materials, and, of course, all attendees will also profit from their deep dive into their development of internet startup entrepreneurial skills that are one of the many outcomes associated with the Rise startup experience.

• What did Abdu’l-Baha say about American Indians that he did not say about any other race?

Abdu’l-Baha said many wonderful things about all people and various nations across the planet. He encouraged everyone to do their share and uplift and serve the Cause of God. However, in the Tablets of the Divine Plan Abdu’l-Baha specifically names a race of people and bequeaths to them, and imbues them with a unique destinywhich they must struggle to unfold and fulfill:

“Attach great importance to the indigenous population of America. For these souls may be likened unto the ancient inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula …. these Indians, should they be educated and guided, there can be no doubt that they will become so illumined as to enlighten the whole world.”

• Why do I have to get permission from my Local Spiritual Assembly to attend Rosa Rise?

Your Local Spiritual Assembly loves and protects you. You are under their sheltering wing. They have your best interest and protection at heart. They will consult and recommend the person who they feel is best qualified at this time to benefit from the Rise experience, and who they believe is best suited right now to help Rise achieve its far reaching overarching objective which is to create the circumstances that will enable American Indian Baha’is to build and maintain a self-funded university system throughout the Americas. This is not a personality contest. If you are eager to attend Rise and your Local Spiritual Assembly does not recommend you at this time, consult with them and ask them what you can do to earn their recommendation to attend Rise next year, or the year after.

• How long do I have to commit to if I want to attend Rise?

Rise is serious and committed to achieve its overarching objective of creating the circumstances that will enable the self-funding and building of 19 branches of the Rosa University system throughout the Americas within ten years or less. If you have a full time job at Walmart they expect you to work year around. Rise is a full time learning and practicing internet startup environment. It’s a working office where you will become an expert by practicing the skills that you’re learning. If you work at other offices like Google or Facebook, both of which started as internet startup environments, you had to work full time year around because they are business offices. The work-study programs of the Rise internet startup entrepreneurial experience requires a minimum 12 month commitment. If you cannot joyfully and eagerly commit to 12 months of Rise work-study, please tell your Local Spiritual Assembly.

• Can I bring a musical instrument to Rise?

Yes. The work-study programs of Rise are joyful. All musical instruments including drums, guitars, flutes, and other are welcome. Rise is a loving, supportive and encouraging Baha’i place for work, study, laughter, and joy. (But, really, it’s mainly about buckling down and learning that “work is worship” and that work is super fun.)

• Why do you call Rise a work-study program?

Rise is part of what will become Rosa University. One aspect of the Rise work-study program is to train young indigenous Alaska Native and American Indian Baha’is to develop the skills and attitudes needed to become internet startup entrepreneurs and or earn a living by working at home from anywhere on the planet by providing online and offline services related to the internet. Another aspect of the Rise work-study program will train Rise students to work together to create and launch real internet startup services and businesses at Rise.

Google, Facebook, Amazon, and many other iconic internet enterprises all began as internet startups with little more than a few ideas. The overarching objective of the nascent Rise component of what will become Rosa University is to allow the young Baha’i “indigenous population of America” the privilege to create the circumstances that will enable the self-funding and building of 19 branches of the Rosa University system throughout the Americas within less than ten years.

To do this is a great challenge and privilege because the Rise work-study program overall will set the stage for a large segment of the Baha’i “indigenous population of America” to be “educated and guided” and this is important because as Abdu’l-Baha says, “Attach great importance to the indigenous population of America.” To have an impact across the Americas each Rosa branch will have 360 students. Every decade Rosa will double the number of its branches.

In short, the heroic study and work of the Rise Founding Class, and, also, each of the subsequent sessions of the Founding Classes of Rise, will enable the self-funded Rosa University system to endure, God willing, for a thousand years. Because once Rosa University is established, the inbuilt Rise Business College at each branch will be a component part of the university system and its self-funding forever.

• How will Rosa Rise grow?

We have to struggle to be born. We have to struggle to learn to walk, talk, and create whatever it is we want to become. Everything develops step by step. Little by little. However, a phenomenon of the internet age is the rapidity and inordinate scalability during which the development of great wealth nobly earned by providing globally available digital services can happen and young internet startup entrepreneurs have generated levels of wealth previously thought impossible. Abdu’l-Baha says, “Thought is the reality of man.” Others have said, “Thoughts are things.”

Abdu’l-Baha says, “Intention brings attainment.” These young internet startup entrepreneurs, such as the co-Founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, for example, have created enormous wealth for themselves and the world. In the case of Mark Zuckerberg, age 33, in less than 14 years his drive to provide a service to a global community has created a personal fortune of $74+ billion. In addition, four people working with him have become multi billionaires. Dozens have become multi-hundred millionaires and thousands have become regular multimillionaires and millionaires.

How does this happen? How has this level of wealth – that is 10 times more than what is needed to build and self-fund the entire Rosa University system for generations – been created in so short a time? Simple. The co-Founders of Facebook had an overarching objective and by studying the problems and challenges confronting them, and thinking about the possible solutions and how to apply them, and working to generate and apply the best solutions they created the circumstances to achieve their objective. In summary, Rise will work to support successive Founding Classes of Rise, and, sooner or later, will self-fund the establishment of 19 branches of the Rosa University system scattered throughout the Americas within ten years.

• Who will fund the first year of Rise?

No initial or ongoing funding will be required or provided by Baha’i Institutions. Rise is a Baha’i-inspired organization that will be funded by philanthropic benevolent-minded investors. Funding will enable the Founding Class of Rise to live and work together in much the same way that the Founding group of the internet startup Facebook lived and worked together in a house in Silicon Valley, California. In future, the investors who fund the Founding Class of the Rise work-study program will be known as the co-Founders of the Rosa University system which includes Rise.

• Who will fund the ongoing years of Rise?

The ongoing funding for subsequent years – after the initial Funding Stage – will be the self-funding provided by the income generated from the work-study programs of Rise students. These Founding Classes will with the Grace of God invent or innovate one or more internet services whose resounding success provides for the self-funding of the entire Rosa University system for many generations. In either case, Rise and Rosa University will be self-funded by the determination and native intelligence and genius of the indigenous Baha’i students of the Americas and their teachers.

• Will Rise students be paid for their work at Rise?

Rise students do not pay any upfront fee for their education at Rise. This does not mean their education is free. This means each student must do the work-study programs of Rise to pay for their own education and this is an attendance requirement. If you can’t agree to do the entire work-study program of Rise no matter what it is currently or becomes as we zig and zag to meet our overarching objective then this opportunity is not for you. Although they are not paid, per se, the students, according to the current business model, will receive a 20% share of any profit made during their tenure at Rise as long as they commit to participate in the entire 12 month program.

The graduates of Rise will also be eligible, and will be encouraged to participate in the work-study programs of Rise during subsequent years. Every year Rise will open its doors to more students; as it grows into Rosa University. In future after Rosa is established, the 20% share of Rise profits will be shared equally by all the students whose Rosa University branch generates the profit.

At this time, as part of their education, all Rise students will learn about the accounting and bookkeeping of their school. The Founding Classes of Rise, for example, will manage some aspects of the money of the school and use it to pay the expenses of the school. This means they will review much of the income and outgo of funds. This will teach them how to handle large sums of money. Of course this handling of the funds by the students will be carefully overseen by professional accountants and bookkeepers who will help the students set up appropriate fiscal systems, processes, and procedures, which will provide the students with yet more experience. There are some caveats associated with the dispersal of funds to the students that are inherently just.

• Why does Rise give a Remuneration to the investors who fund Rise?

When a farmer plants a field of corn he takes a risk. There may come a flood, or a tornado, or a fungal blight, or locust, that will evaporate all his work. However, in most cases, civilization would have ended long ago if this manner of work were not rewarded. Instead, the seed he or she planted is returned. The harvest is a hundred fold. Given the success of Rise, the investors will receive a remuneration which is inheritable by whomever they name as heirs.

The driving vision of service of Rise and the Rosa University system is a business model that nobly enables young American Indian Baha’is to participate in the establishment of their own self-funded university system that will last for generations. The investors who enable the Founding Class of Rise are supporting the vision of service inspired by the words of Abdu’l-Baha, and embodied in a visionary business model that sustains growth, so they surely deserve a return on their investment because they are like farmers who plant their seed, and when the Creator of All Things rewards them they are grateful and, as Baha’is, they give a portion back to the community funds, and a portion to God as the Right of God, the Huqúqu’lláh. This is equitable.

Furthermore, there is a time limit associated with the Investor Remunerations which are inheritable and assignable for a period not to exceed seventy years. This means that after that period the investor share is added to the Rosa share which becomes seventy percent of the total available as the Rosa remuneration share. The intention of Rosa is to be fair and equitable to the memory of the co-Founders who invested in the Founding Class of Rise and, thus, enabled the Rosa University system to be built. And although this remuneration ends after seventy years, the station and memory and legacy of the co-Founders lives in perpetuity and will be honored and treasured by the students and faculty of Rosa University for the duration of its existence. Indeed, the Rosa University system may exist for more than a thousand years and be of service to humanity like the English universities of Oxford, for 920 years thus far, and Cambridge 807 years thus far, or even the Italian University of Bologna, for 928 years to date.

• Why not just invest my money in a Venture Capital fund?

Investing in a Venture Capital Fund can produce good results, however, the truth is most venture capital funds produce poor results. The ones who did not invest in Facebook, for example, are kicking themselves today, and the ones that did have earned hundreds of millions or even billions which have been distributed to their investors according to the shares of the various funds owned by each investor.

Venture capitalists often require a much larger share of the companies they invest in than the ten percent share that will be remunerated to the investors in Rise and shared between them according to each of their investments. The remunerated parties at Rise includes providing a 10% portion shared among the teachers and all staff members, a 20% portion shared among the work-study students, a 10% portion shared among the Founding investors and Designated Recipients, and a preponderant 60% share going to RosaRise which will provide for the establishment and operation of the self-funded Rosa University system.

If you can afford to invest in Rise think carefully and consider what a wonderful outcome may be produced in the lives of not only these young people, but across generations of indigenous peoples of the Americas, and, remember, that very smart people at the vast majority of venture funds did not invest in Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Google, or hundreds of other successful companies like Apple and Microsoft, for example, because they did not think those enterprises would succeed.

The fact is venture capitalists are often just charming guessers; they go where they money goes, and few if any of them have the Midas touch. This is not said to disavow or belittle the work of venture capitalists because as shown in the vision of service for Rosa University, in future as part of their work-study education, the entrepreneurial business students of Rise and Rosa University will operate venture funds and a global micro-lending service on behalf of a trust or fund set up by the Rise Business School and Rosa University which be funded through our own efforts. It will be their responsibility to pick the winners and invest in those companies they believe will create the resources needed to further expand, maintain, and operate the entirety of the Rosa University system across a long horizon of many generations to come.

In truth it requires an enormous amount of resources to operate a university system.

In 2011, the University of Texas had $10 billion in their Permanent University Fund and were in the middle of a $3 billion fund raising campaign. However, this should not deter young Alaska Native and American Indian Baha’is from studying and working to create the circumstances at Rise that will self-fund a university system throughout the Americas that, in turn, will help them achieve the destiny Abdu’l-Baha sets forth for them. Indeed it will challenge them to do what some may deem impossible. However, let’s be entirely forthright, American Indians, the indigenous population of America,with less tools and less information that may be commonly shared by junior high schoolers today, built the pyramids and great cities and highways and waterways and the rich and diverse agricultural base that supported the enormous Olmec, Maya, Aztec and Inca empires. So young and inspired American Indian Baha’is – supported, and encouraged by the words of Abdu’l-Baha – are entirely capable of working to self-fund a work-study university system having twenty branches with 360 students at each, and building those branches in cities across the Americas in ten years or less.

• Will students receive a Certificate after each year of study?

Yes. In future, the Rosa University system will be fully accredited, however, at this time Rise students will received a Certificate of Achievement each year and a Letter of Commendation that details what the student has learned and, also, has professionally practiced during the year. Rise students are encouraged to attend Rise in the following year in order to prepare themselves to be the teachers and administrators of Rosa University as it develops, however, all the students will have learned how to start their own home-based internet businesses and operate them from anywhere on earth, so many may choose to leave Rise and work on their own. No matter their choice, all students will have the prayers and best wishes and active support and encouragement of Rise throughout their careers.

• Why does Rise pay a $250 monthly stipend to each student?

If it were not for the benevolent investment of the Founders and Champions of Rise it would be impossible to pay a $250 per month stipend to each of 20 students in the Founding Class of Rise.

The payment of a stipend to each student is part of the business and service model related to the Rosa University system that will be established throughout the Americas because in Mexico and Central and South America many Indians are so poor that it’s difficult if not impossible for them to leave their homes to attend a university. Often they are needed at home to work the land just for their families to be able to survive. In future, paying a generous student stipend will enable many American Indian Baha’is to attend the self-funded Rosa University and participate in its work-study programs without having to worry about creating a hardship for their families.

In the case of the Founding Class of Rise, Rise will pay a total of $60,000 to the 20 students over 12 months. One of the purposes of the work-study programs of Rise is to teach every student to handle money and be completely independent. So this is not a handout, or free money. In fact, it’s a tool that students will use to manage their own affairs. The $250 monthly amount enables each student to preserve dignity and proudly reimburse the school $100 each for a portion of their board and $50 each for a portion of the utilities paid by the school to keep the facility cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Each of the Rise students will be paid the $250 stipend every month and receive a food bill of $100 and a utility bill of $50.

As part of their business preparedness experience and learn-by-doing education, the students will pay out the checks or process the payments to each student for $250, and send out the food and utility bills to each student, and, also, receive the reimbursements of $100 checks for payment related to board and $50 checks related to utilities from each student. This is not play money. It is real money. In addition to the enduring and practical internet startup entrepreneurial skills taught at Rise – as part of their education Rise students will also learn and practice real-world personal and business money management skills.

• Who should come to Rise?

The answer is anyone who shares the vision and wants to work hard to make it happen. Nothing ever happens without effort. Please do not come to Rise to get money or free stuff. Rise is a work-study program for young American Indian Baha’is who want to learn and practice how to become internet startup entrepreneurs. In short, come to Rise to work and learn and have fun and become a spiritual giant.

Come to Rise because you want to develop your spiritual vision, show courage, and be like Crazy Horse who always worked to serve, protect, and feed the people. Come to Rise because you want to develop valuable thinking and doing skills you can use for a lifetime. Come to Rise because you want to make new friends and do something great together that will help American Indian Baha’is be the instruments of the destiny given to you by Abdu’l-Baha which is to “become so illumined as to enlighten the whole world.” Come to Rise because you like to learn new things, love challenges and love thinking and want to work hard and learn valuable skills and a profession. Come to Rise because deep down you know you have the right stuff and you’re a self-motivated person, a dreamer who knows you have to work towards your dreams to make them come true.

Besides having a lot of fun challenging yourself and learning, and practicing and developing internet entrepreneurial skills, also, at the end of the year everyone who completes the Rise work-study experience will receive a package that includes thousands of dollars in software tools and valuable books and videos that they can use to build and organize, and, also, manage, market and promote their home businesses.

In addition to a vitally important spiritual component, there are two main “work is worship” objectives at Rise and both are equally important parts of the perspicacious Rise work-study program: (1) The first is to develop the skills and mindset you need to operate a dynamic and profitable home business anywhere in the world where there is an internet connection, and (2) The second is to work in teams to practice what you’re learning in order to create the circumstances to self-fund Rise, and someday the entire Rosa University system, and this includes working together to startup and launch real internet businesses that are focused on reaching the overarching self-funding objective.

• Can Rise students stay a second year?

Yes. Although the Rise program is a one year program students in good standing can stay for subsequent years of work-study which will be valuable to them and Rise. They will continue to do the work of internet entrepreneurs and will be available as program accelerators and administrators to coach the new students. In future, as Rosa University comes into being the student work-study program will be a five year program from which the students graduate with status from an accredited university. At this time, however, students are welcome to apply to stay for additional years of Rise. These students will earn various Certificates of Achievement each year and Letters of Commendation that will serve as valuable introductions if they choose to leave Rise to pursue other personal goals.

• Will Rise students learn how to “program” websites?

The short answer is, “No and Yes.” At this time, in addition to the more far reaching goal of creating the circumstances that allow for the establishment and self-funding of the Rosa University system, everyone in the Founding Classes of Rise will also learn how to build profitable internet home based businesses by providing both online and offline services to business owners wherever they live. So, yes, as part of this training and hands on practice, they’ll learn how to make websites using WordPress and other pre-programmed frameworks, but, no, they will not learn how to program from the bottom up using, for example, Java script, C++, HTML5, CSS, or other programming languages. On the other hand they will learn how to create and design “wireframes” or models in order to direct software programmers who can build any software they may need. The Rise work-study program is an intense deep dive into the life of being an internet startup entrepreneur. It’s a hands on experience that develops Baha’i character and builds practical and important internet skills that will help them throughout their lives and aid them to develop a valuable profession.

• Why this investment may well produce a quantum leap of ROI and human productivity over alternatives 

Most of the time you invest and own a small piece of an enterprise. In this case, the investors share the remuneration of ten percent of the productivity enabled by their investment. However, more importantly, when seen from a slightly different vantage point their investment earns them an additional 60% of the production because that is the amount of remuneration owned – not by an individual – but by the Rosa University system.

Imagine if you had a 60% share of Facebook or any other great multi-billion dollar enterprise. Well, as a investor in Rise, this is your chance to fund and engage in a great enterprise whose goal is nothing less than to enable young American Indian Baha’is the opportunity to build and self-fund the entire Rosa University work-study system throughout the Americas as an instrument that the indigenous peoples of the Americas can use to make a quantum leap in their efforts to reach their divinely appointed task which Abdu’l-Baha asserts is “… these Indians, should they be educated and guided, there can be no doubt that they will become so illumined as to enlighten the whole world.”

• Who will be key to the success of Rise?

It’s great to be young and on fire to accomplish a great objective! Are you afraid? Do you think you may not be good enough for Rise? Or that Rise may not be able to achieve its objectives with you onboard? Don’t be afraid. Abdu’l-Baha said, “To be courageous, act courageous.” Balzac, the author of a large collection of novels entitled The Human Comedy, wrote: “All happiness depends on courage and work.”

The poet, Robert Frost, wrote, “Freedom lies in being bold.” If what you’re reading touches your heart and makes sense to you, go see your Local Spiritual Assembly. Ask for their guidance. Be humble. Set aside all fear. Think of the Holy Ones throughout the ages. We are Baha’is and we have been assigned a great destiny. Rise is the work-study instrument young American Indian Baha’is just like you will use to self-fund the development of a university-level system of higher education including multiple branches spread across the Americas for all American Indian Baha’is.

Be bold. Dream big. You could be the key to this work. A single idea generated by you or the entire Founding Class of Rise could turn the tide for all American Indians, or, indeed, for the entire human race whom we serve. You could be the one that makes it happen! You’re not alone. Don’t be afraid. Be happy. Be strong. Your life is important. Rely on God.

• Why do you seek co-Founders of Rise?

The American Indian spirit makes it hard for any of us to be considered better than others or unique above others. The American Indian war hero Ira Hayes was destroyed because people all over America worshiped him as a hero. It drove him to drink himself to death. We need to acknowledge other people as co-Founders for enabling Rise and Rosa University. It’s a great burden for us to stand out in any way because we’re an innately shy people born to serve the Creator.