Ella Gerazuk
Outdoors
 
History
 
Ella went to progressive schools, did home schooling, and traveled around the world when she was 16. Her varied interests developed out of being a teacher's helper, a musician, an active traveler through foreign lands, and a skilled outdoor's person trained in survival and exploration.

I met Ella at a party whose main attraction was a troupe of Mongolian musicians. She was there at the invitation of the host with whom she was learning to make jewelry. She told me of her travels and I knew her stories would be interesting.

Interview Excerpts
Read the full interview :
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"How is learning important to me? I think we all know how to learn. It’s a normal thing. My curiosity really pushes me to learn. I like learning at my own pace: if I find something interesting, something I want to learn, I can learn about it…"

"I’ve just gotten older and the things that seemed so far away aren’t so far away anymore. … The time is getting shorter and shorter. It’s like you realize that life doesn’t go on forever! It’s not a sad realization. Maybe it’s because you grow a lot when you hit your middle teens. You make a big, big leap in growth. … So I’d think, 'Oh, wow. I’m getting kind of old now.' …”

"For me, my darkest hour was that night …. it was hard for me to lie in my shelter when they were in so much pain in my dream. I got through that by knowing that it was (my friends') inner battle to deal with, and not mine. I learned so much about myself from being there, just from lying in that heap of leaves…"

 

Links

Waldorf Education, Wikipedia
Vermont Wilderness School, home page

   
Copyright © 2010, Lincoln Stoller. All rights reserved.