Educational History and Motivation

Drawing by Kyla Clark

My education prior to Global College has been extraordinary and more than I could ever ask for. I spent sixteen years at the Denver Waldorf School, beginning with preschool and eventually graduating from the high school. For over twenty-five years both of my dear parents have been teachers in the Denver Waldorf School and throughout my time there, the community became my close family and life-long friends. Words cannot express how much gratitude I have towards the Waldorf community, especially to all of the amazing teachers and peers who taught and supported me for so many years. These teachers, including my wonderful parents, are entirely devoted to the Waldorf movement. Waldorf is everything I stand for with its core motive being Heart, Head and Hands (the three H’s) or in other terms, body, soul and spirit. These three words encompass my past, present and future motivation for education and for that matter, life. Waldorf education has kindled in me the love of life-long learning and exploration in the world. Education in its essence becomes an art as well as a science. This has inspired me to try to further enhance an artistic type of thinking that is free and independent yet places a great sense of responsibility for the circumstances for people throughout the world. This education has much to offer in these challenging times and can offer tools for the struggles that modern education is facing. Waldorf Education is meant to awaken possibilities to bring each child to their full potential.

My childhood in Waldorf and at home was magical. One of the main principles of Waldorf education is the absence of television, especially in the years of early childhood. The absence of television promotes creativity and lots of time to play. I did not watch or necessarily know what television was until I was nearly eleven years old. The absence of television in my childhood and the way my parents chose to raise me allowed for full development into my true self. For example, society’s pressure to take on the stereotypical role of a girl in terms of dress, behavior or career never affected me. At the age of four, my career choice was either to become a baker or a muscle man, possibly both. My best friends were two boys by the names of Soccer Ball and Cocoa Boy, who were of course, imaginary. I indulged myself in seemingly simple activities such as what I referred to as glue picking, which consisted of smothering my hands in Elmer’s glue and then for hours on end picking off the remnants. Throughout kindergarten and many of the following years, I played with wooden toys, heard fairy tales, celebrated Festivals and spent much of my time outside. I learned various forms of knitting along with different arts and crafts and often took advantage of the plethora of fairytale-like dress up clothes in the classrooms of the lower grades. In my kindergarten classroom we had a table with child size saws, sandpaper and many pieces of wood that we could create things out of. Looking back now I can only imagine the public response to the concept of a kindergarten classroom being supplied with child size saws, even though the children were always supervised by a teacher while using the wood working tools. I learned to sew, weave, draw, paint and sing. As a child, everything was possible and because of my upbringing and Waldorf education, life’s possibilities remain endless.

In grade school the magic continued. In Waldorf, the same teacher leads a class from first through eighth grade. This enables the children to form a deep and lasting relationship with their teacher and classmates. Of course, there are negative aspects of having the same main teacher for eight years but adjustments are made if there is a problem in the relationship between the teacher and student or between various students. I will always remember and maintain a relationship with my teacher. Her name was Mrs. Doyle and she remains to this day, a dear and close person to me. My best friends are those I have known and been in the Waldorf School with for more than twelve years. Every person in my graduating class, which consisted of twelve people, are friends I know I can count on for the rest of my life. They are my brothers and sisters and have supported me through some of the toughest times in my life.

Other teachers also contribute to a well-rounded curriculum by bringing subjects such as music, eurythmy (a kind of movement art), handwork, woodwork, and foreign languages. Official textbooks are not used because the children make their own. These are called “main lesson” books. I still have every main lesson book I have ever made. My main lesson books are something I treasure and will have for the rest of my life. Art is always integrated into the academics. The wonders of nature later lay the foundation for science. Storytelling is a daily activity that engages the child in their feelings and mind to learn about the world and its phenomena. The art of developing beautiful handwriting is essential and the use of technology, such as computers is not considered important until high school. Letter grades and standardized testing are also non-existent until high school.

As a student of sixteen years, the learning content of each grade seemed to suit me perfectly. Each year my class put on drama plays such as Isis and Osiris in fifth grade and A Mid-Summer Night's Dream in eighth grade. My class always made the set and all of our costumes. Beginning in first grade and continuing until fifth grade, I learned how to play the recorder and the lyre. In fifth grade I was able to learn either the violin or cello then later I could choose to learn a different instrument, which ended up being the saxophone. Throughout first to fifth grade, I clapped out the numbers in order to learn my times tables, worked on farms, learned how to compost and recited poems by heart.

During the high school years, the sciences, arts and humanities are taught by teachers who are specialists in these subjects. High school was challenging for me, but more rewarding than anything else in my life. I excelled in my art, creative writing and music and language more than ever before. I had been taking Russian classes since first grade and when I decided I wanted to go to Russia to work and teach in an orphanage, the school supported it. I was able to do my senior project on human rights on the U.S./Mexico border and spend my entire senior year taking two week long trips to work on the border. I was given grades and tests and I also began to work with computers, which I am not exactly fond of.

The word education (e-ducere) means ”to lead out” not "to put in." Today’s public education only "puts in" the information with the sole purpose of how it will be measured through various tests. Waldorf Education is dedicated to preparing students to discover in themselves the enthusiasm and strength to bring out their true potential so that they may become truly human. This is where my hopes and aspirations for my future in Global College are to be found.

With my background of Waldorf Education I looked for a program that would bring practical and meaningful experiences to my college career. I wanted a program that encompassed a culturally engaged experience and was without dorm rooms or fraternities among other things. After reading a book called Colleges That Make a Difference, I was motivated to learn as much as I could about Global College. Global College described a way for me to begin to put to use the gifts that the Waldorf School had given me. I had participated in various service learning projects locally and internationally during high school and those experiences gave me a sense of global awareness and the difference (even if it is small) that interested individuals can make to help alleviate the pain of others through direct action. However, I came to find that direct action only goes so far. In my experiences with service learning I continually found that we were only treating the symptoms of the actual problem and that it was only temporary relief. I knew that even if I gave water to someone today, they would still be thirsty tomorrow. I was willing to spend the rest of my life working this way and knowing that, but I knew there could be a different and more effective approach that also accounted for the long term. Therefore, I essentially came to Global College in order to learn about conflict resolution. I feel that it is my responsibility as a human being to learn how to think differently about complex issues such as “border policy” and immigration in order to determine what the best and most productive approach and actions are.

I know that my Waldorf education and personal upbringing were far from what American society calls “average”. I feel extremely privileged and blessed for many reasons to have the parents that I do and to have been able to spend sixteen years at the Denver Waldorf School, (free of charge if I may add, thanks again to my amazing parents both being teachers there). I was allowed to mature slowly and to keep the capacities of awe, reverence and wonder, which are natural gifts of childhood.

Some may call me a Waldorf fanatic; others will only call me a genuine Waldorfian. Now I will only add that if someday I have children of my own, they will go to school nowhere else, but Waldorf.

Drawing by Kyla Clark

Reflection of my first semester at Global College

Looking back at the last semester in Global College, I somehow can only recall the wise words of Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones (one of the greatest bands in the history of bands if I may add). He says, “You can’t always get what you want”. I will admit there were times when the only thing I wanted, was an egg launcher. Just to watch the yoke of an egg slowly drip down the side of an unfortunate persons face. Yes, I have come to terms with my militant side here at Global College. I will say that I never was able to get my hands on an egg launcher and I never physically acted on my violent thoughts. Let me state for the record that tolerance is one of the most valuable and difficult qualities to obtain. I think that my expectation of Global College was much too high. Before I found out about Global College, I was planning on traveling, staying in squat houses and living a minimalist life style. I was also planning on continuing my work with humanitarian aid. Then my dear Mother found out and informed me about Global College. I thought, here is a way to do just this and obtain a degree so I will be taken more seriously. In reality, I agreed to become somewhere under 100,000 dollars in debt for four years of education and a piece of paper so that I could be more effective with my work as an activist. Some days, I think this is the deal of a lifetime and other days I don’t feel like being eternally attached at the hip with the receptionist at the office of student loans. Like I said before, I think my expectation of Global College was much too high. I had been so privileged to have classes with Waldorf students and have discussions with people whose views I was not only in awe of, but also learned from. I am not exactly saying that Waldorf students are superior human beings, only different. To be honest, the first two weeks of observing the actions and listening to other students in and out of class, I was sure I wanted to leave Global College immediately. I found myself listening to other students ponder concepts I had discussed with my friends at the age of thirteen. The student orientation was held at a prestigious resort and to make matters worse, the first night I walked in on most of my new fellow peers playing a game similar to truth or dare. I reacted by throwing up in my mouth a bit and going to bed. This was the result of public education and adolescence. It was not their fault. Besides, what would the world be like if everyone was the same, conflict is necessary to an extent right? Conflict keeps the world awake, right?

The last paragraph I have written is true, but not at all the entirety of my experience. There is a phrase by Ralph Waldo Emerson that has become my life motto. He says, “Kindness with an edge”. I have also learned to live with the fact that everything is what a person makes it, to an extent, of course. I have learned how to listen, tolerate and accept people and concepts that before I would have completely disregarded. I have learned and met many people that I would have otherwise never known. I am entirely grateful to all of the amazing teachers at Global College who have inspired me to continue to working to better the world even if you do not see any results after thirty years of selfless labor. I have seen and become knowledgeable about two amazing countries and am now able to, mas o menos, speak basic Spanish. My self growth has mainly to do with tolerance. I have learned to tolerate and accept myself for being too critical of my work, of others and of myself in general. Only the wisest of people accept everyone for who they are and live with inner and outer peace. I do believe that anger is a gift, but like most everything in life, there must be a balance between anger and pure acceptance. I believe one should know the dark, yet choose the light.

In general I feel that this last semester let me experience “consciousness without identity”. I am grateful for every experience Global College has enabled me to have and of my new genuine friends, even if they are few (specifically three).