MINT College: Not Your Ordinary College

 

I joined a group of bloggers on a campus tour of this fairly new college called Meridian International College (or MINT). This college is located in McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. But unlike the other schools in that area like the International School Manila, British School and the Chinese and Korean International Schools, MINT was not located in the usual kind of campus that had outdoor school grounds. It occupied the entire second floor of the Commerce and Industry Plaza Building.

A delightful surprise for me was discovering that MINT was founded by none other than my ex-boss at SGV/Andersen Consulting — Baltazar “Bal” Endriga. Bal has always been the kind of fellow who was not just nationalistic but always had the heart of a philanthropist, always wanting to give back after being given personal opportunities that brought him to where he is now. So while I was surprised that he was at the helm of this academic endeavor, it was not out of character for Bal to do so.

The aim of MINT is to provide a more creative environment for learning using the latest technologies available. Theory and practice are combined. The professors don’t just teach their subjects; it is their profession as well. Students studying film, for example, will have someone in the film industry as professor; and for those studying Music and Audio Production, they would have a music artist teaching them. MINT wants students to get their hands dirty with actual experiences, not just theory.

The entire college is an Apple school (there is an Apple Experience Center inside the school where you can actually buy Apple products) with students using iPads as notebooks.

To-date, MINT offers the following regular and short courses:

REGULAR (degree courses)

• Applied Arts & New Media
• Film & Communication Management
• Music Business Management
• Marketing
• Entrepreneurial Management
• Environmental Management and Sustainable Development
• Finance and Commerce
• Information Technology
• Computer Science

SHORT (note: you need to check schedules with their office)

• Film
• iPhone/iPad App Development
• Accounting for Non-Accountants
• Stock Market Investing
• Financial Management
• Strategic Management
• Entrepreneurship
• Strategic Marketing for Non-Business Graduates
• Marketing Communication
• IT Innovation
• Photography
• Digital Arts
• Illustration and Fine Arts

FACILITIES

MINT was tastefully designed to be colorful, creative and learning-inducing. From the modern foyer to the space capsule-like case/conference room aptly called Space Odyssey, to classrooms that have giant, interactive boards instead of the usual blackboard or whiteboard, to the sound studio, theater-like room, MINT is something that students would love going to school for.

Let me give you a quick visual tour:

The Apple Experience Center is the activity center-library-cafeteria of MINT. I was truly delighted by the play of colors, not just here but in every room.

The classrooms are named after yummy, candy colors and the chairs/color scheme of each room follows its name. Cool!

The other classroom names are Peppermint, Spearmint and Menthol. Can you guess the rooms’ color themes? 🙂

The MINT lab is a wonder in terms of architectural design of the tables and chairs. And the fact that all the computers in it are iMacs.

With a music room called “fa.mi.re.do” and a faculty room called “Think Tank”, you know that this school emphasizes the creative, fun and non-traditional learning methods.

At the moment, there are only a handful of students but they are planning to go full blast with the 2011 school year. If you have kids who you think would fare better in a different atmosphere from traditional schools, you may want to check MINT out.

MINT College is at the 2nd Floor, Commerce and Industry Plaza, Campus Avenue, McKinley Hill, Taguig City. Telephone (632) 223-MINT (6468). Email admissions@mintcollege.com. They are also on Twitter and Facebook.