Alum Corner with Luisa Kodweiss
After graduating from the Vancouver Waldorf School, I returned to Europe for two months to visit my family. When I returned to Vancouver, I worked as a Lift Operator on Grouse Mountain for the rest of the summer and one winter season. The following summer, I worked as a trail ride guide in Lake Louise, Alberta. Since then, I’ve worked there for three to four months every summer. I began studying at Quest University Canada in Squamish in September 2012.
I’m currently a third-year student at Quest University, graduating in 2016. To help pay for tuition, I participate in the work/study program as part of the athletic events staff, keeping score and organizing basketball and soccer games. During the summer, I return to Lake Louise as a trail ride guide, leading tourists on horseback rides and delivering groceries on pack horses to remote lodges that cannot be reached by car.
It’s okay not to know precisely what you want to do with your life after graduating from high school. The freedom that comes after graduation can be scary and overwhelming, but take advantage of it. It’s an opportunity to explore the world and discover your passions.
Some of my fondest memories from VWS are of camping trips. On the fall hiking trip to Stein Valley in 2009, we came into an area recently hit by a forest fire. At first, we were amazed by the burnt trees and ashes. After hiking through the burnt area for a couple of days, we were all dirty from the falling ashes! It was an amazing experience to walk through such a freshly burned landscape. It’s not something one would usually do or get the chance to do, and it makes you realize the power of nature. It was fascinating to see the edge of the burn, where we simply crossed a small bridge from a completely grey and dusty trail into a lush green forest.
While at the Michael Bauer Schule (Waldorf School in Stuttgart, Germany), I had the opportunity to be part of the school-run circus. Starting in Grade 6, students could participate in disciplines like juggling, tightrope walking, clowning, and more. I was part of it in Grades 8 and 9, engaging in rope skipping, mini-trampoline jumping, and human pyramids (stacking up to four levels of students!). It was an amazing experience to develop these skills and work all year toward a performance weekend in a real circus tent.
It’s a little early to say how Waldorf education has shaped my career, as (at the time of publication) I only graduated a few years ago. However, the Grade 12 Project prepared me well for university-level writing. It was a huge advantage to already be familiar with research, proper citation, and the volume of writing involved. I now regularly write 2000-word research papers. Waldorf indirectly influenced my career choice in that I chose to attend Quest University because it parallels the learning principles of the Waldorf School, and the Foundation Course program at Quest led me to my current path.
It’s tough to point to specific things Waldorf education has helped with since I’ve attended Waldorf schools my whole life and can’t compare it to anything else. However, at Quest, the experience of focusing on one subject at a time (similar to the Waldorf main lesson rotation) and delving deeply into it each day was an advantage. Learning to work independently, budget my time, and meet deadlines while balancing other courses and regular homework has proven very useful. I feel well-prepared for my Quest Keystone Project on “How do humans impact wildlife?” as I work towards earning a Master’s in Wildlife Biology.
Interview by Ronaye Ireland for Development, January 2015
The Vancouver Waldorf School provides an experiential, age-appropriate approach to education based on the insights of Rudolf Steiner that inspires students to love learning, to be creative, open-minded, and compassionate. With a curriculum that integrates all academics with the arts and social learning, Waldorf Education develops not only the left and right hemispheres of the brain but the whole human being. A child’s social, emotional, physical and intellectual development is considered equally, supporting a conscious unfolding of the individuality within each student. Waldorf graduates possess capacities for empathy and clear, creative and independent thinking that enables them to carry out a chosen course of action with moral courage and social responsibility.
