"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."
T. S. Eliot
The Participants & their Unique stories
core team
ZAND CRAIG / Northern Ireland
Classroom Alive: Ireland is a beautifully intimate journey for me. I am literally walking home. I grew up on the cliffs around Ballycastle in Northern Ireland where the walk will finish. The air, water and earth of that landscape are literally in my bones and the silhouette of Fair Head cliff is fused deep in my heart with my sense of home. Yet growing up I was surrounded by division among the people of this land, deeply rooted in questions, stories and acts of who belonged and who didn't. My own biography dropped me smack into the middle of the no man's land of that social divide - a place where you neither belonged nor didn't. As I reflect on the work I have engaged in for much of my life I am mindful that in one way or another the purpose of much of that work has been to reweave threads of a frayed social fabric and story into a form which could include my own - to fix it, heal it, mend it, so then - tomorrow - you and I, us and them, we, can create the lives we dream of. Being back in Northern Ireland now having been away for a few years I notice the tug of that habit return when I read the news or am ushered out of Belfast city centre by the police because of another 'security alert'. It is time to shift that story and shed a skin in myself so a new one can take form. It is time for tomorrow become today. So, I am walking simply because I dream of it. The rolling waves, the sheer cliffs and billowing clouds...the air, the rain, the hedgerows...the flowing music, silent mountains and new faces; they both fill me with joy and make me tremble with trepidation. To walk this path requires me to step over an edge in myself. To sink below the familiar societal stories I grew up in and that whisper in my ear what is possible, what is normal, what is allowed and subtly who I am and what I can be. The call in my heart to be part of Classroom Alive: Ireland is simple - to learn what it is to go beyond the borders drawn by humans on a map and to be in an emerging relationship and conversation with the landscape, the people and myself as they are. This is the edge where my learning sits. In whatever small way, I know this journey is about walking a new story of what is possible into the world and into my own heart. It is poignant to me that during the journey we will bridge north and south, land and sea, and that walking on the 13th of July I will finish at the doorstep from which I took my first step to meet it with new eyes. Wish me well. Zand.
My Question:
Ireland / Zand / Friend - Who are you, who are you becoming and who do you long to be?
Classroom Alive: Ireland is a beautifully intimate journey for me. I am literally walking home. I grew up on the cliffs around Ballycastle in Northern Ireland where the walk will finish. The air, water and earth of that landscape are literally in my bones and the silhouette of Fair Head cliff is fused deep in my heart with my sense of home. Yet growing up I was surrounded by division among the people of this land, deeply rooted in questions, stories and acts of who belonged and who didn't. My own biography dropped me smack into the middle of the no man's land of that social divide - a place where you neither belonged nor didn't. As I reflect on the work I have engaged in for much of my life I am mindful that in one way or another the purpose of much of that work has been to reweave threads of a frayed social fabric and story into a form which could include my own - to fix it, heal it, mend it, so then - tomorrow - you and I, us and them, we, can create the lives we dream of. Being back in Northern Ireland now having been away for a few years I notice the tug of that habit return when I read the news or am ushered out of Belfast city centre by the police because of another 'security alert'. It is time to shift that story and shed a skin in myself so a new one can take form. It is time for tomorrow become today. So, I am walking simply because I dream of it. The rolling waves, the sheer cliffs and billowing clouds...the air, the rain, the hedgerows...the flowing music, silent mountains and new faces; they both fill me with joy and make me tremble with trepidation. To walk this path requires me to step over an edge in myself. To sink below the familiar societal stories I grew up in and that whisper in my ear what is possible, what is normal, what is allowed and subtly who I am and what I can be. The call in my heart to be part of Classroom Alive: Ireland is simple - to learn what it is to go beyond the borders drawn by humans on a map and to be in an emerging relationship and conversation with the landscape, the people and myself as they are. This is the edge where my learning sits. In whatever small way, I know this journey is about walking a new story of what is possible into the world and into my own heart. It is poignant to me that during the journey we will bridge north and south, land and sea, and that walking on the 13th of July I will finish at the doorstep from which I took my first step to meet it with new eyes. Wish me well. Zand.
My Question:
Ireland / Zand / Friend - Who are you, who are you becoming and who do you long to be?
MANIK ESCHE / Germany
Classroom Alive: Ireland is following a call I feel inside, a call for walking, a call for being in nature.
Having walked with Classroom Alive – Sweden to Greece for 5 full weeks, I couldn't resist the urge to start walking again. I feel like this is the lifestyle I am supposed to live, the art of living I am supposed to follow.
Born in Bali and grown up on the countryside in the North of Germany, with all the beauty around me, I became someone who enjoys life fully and actively. Beauty is everywhere, we only need to open our senses to it. And while I always follow the principle of happiness and personal development, learning is what I strive for.
Classroom Alive – Ireland, this lifestyle, walking and studying, is what makes me itch whenever I think about it.
My Question:
How does our subconscious affect our behaviour?
Classroom Alive: Ireland is following a call I feel inside, a call for walking, a call for being in nature.
Having walked with Classroom Alive – Sweden to Greece for 5 full weeks, I couldn't resist the urge to start walking again. I feel like this is the lifestyle I am supposed to live, the art of living I am supposed to follow.
Born in Bali and grown up on the countryside in the North of Germany, with all the beauty around me, I became someone who enjoys life fully and actively. Beauty is everywhere, we only need to open our senses to it. And while I always follow the principle of happiness and personal development, learning is what I strive for.
Classroom Alive – Ireland, this lifestyle, walking and studying, is what makes me itch whenever I think about it.
My Question:
How does our subconscious affect our behaviour?
LAURA TRAVISANO / United States
Classroom Alive: Ireland calls me as a way to explore 3 very strong interests: the development and sustenance of healthy relationships, travel and the exploration of how best to educate myself. There are many ways to educate oneself. But how many do we really know? I mean really know. Many of us are familiar with heading to college after high school, potentially acquiring a hefty amount of student loans in order to afford educating ourselves. I wonder what else is out there? What can we learn through actively engaging in the world itself, the people within it, the lessons to learn through living? Currently, I have a certain amount of focus on those broader questions. However, there are already existing initiatives and models working with these thoughts. I feel it is equally necessary to explore those examples of education while holding my own questions. Classroom Alive's idea of the walking classroom and self education is a way of working which meets my desire to experience the world, while working with alternatives to the main stream educational system.
I think many of us have experienced the strange feeling after a plane ride where we are suddenly in a very new place, after a reasonably short journey through the clouds. I feel another aspect of Classroom Alive is the ability to explore travel. We are in a new moment in history where distance is no longer much of an obstacle. But what about the journey itself, what are we missing from that? This is an opportunity to understand distance on foot, of what it takes to travel while relying on your body to take you there.
Lastly, but certainly not least, I am fascinated by the relationships we build with others. While participating in The Youth Initiative Program (www.yip.se) it became apparent to me that I could really be myself. I could be accepted, and in being myself develop relationships that were far deeper than when I held myself back. Since this awareness was made apparent to me, I have been exploring what it is to communicate in a healthy way. How can I express myself truly while being heard clearly? How can I listen to others fully while not taking things personally, but really just openly listening to the other? These are a few questions that I have been working with for the last few years. It has been quite tough though as each person is so different! There are also so many different kinds of relationships we have with people in the world: teacher, friend, boss, partner, acquaintance, elder, younger... the list goes on. I find it deeply challenging to work with all of these variances but equally exciting. I feel Classroom Alive: Ireland could be a profound place to explore this way of meeting.
My Question:
How will a daily practice of painting change my relationship with the outside world, other people and myself?
Classroom Alive: Ireland calls me as a way to explore 3 very strong interests: the development and sustenance of healthy relationships, travel and the exploration of how best to educate myself. There are many ways to educate oneself. But how many do we really know? I mean really know. Many of us are familiar with heading to college after high school, potentially acquiring a hefty amount of student loans in order to afford educating ourselves. I wonder what else is out there? What can we learn through actively engaging in the world itself, the people within it, the lessons to learn through living? Currently, I have a certain amount of focus on those broader questions. However, there are already existing initiatives and models working with these thoughts. I feel it is equally necessary to explore those examples of education while holding my own questions. Classroom Alive's idea of the walking classroom and self education is a way of working which meets my desire to experience the world, while working with alternatives to the main stream educational system.
I think many of us have experienced the strange feeling after a plane ride where we are suddenly in a very new place, after a reasonably short journey through the clouds. I feel another aspect of Classroom Alive is the ability to explore travel. We are in a new moment in history where distance is no longer much of an obstacle. But what about the journey itself, what are we missing from that? This is an opportunity to understand distance on foot, of what it takes to travel while relying on your body to take you there.
Lastly, but certainly not least, I am fascinated by the relationships we build with others. While participating in The Youth Initiative Program (www.yip.se) it became apparent to me that I could really be myself. I could be accepted, and in being myself develop relationships that were far deeper than when I held myself back. Since this awareness was made apparent to me, I have been exploring what it is to communicate in a healthy way. How can I express myself truly while being heard clearly? How can I listen to others fully while not taking things personally, but really just openly listening to the other? These are a few questions that I have been working with for the last few years. It has been quite tough though as each person is so different! There are also so many different kinds of relationships we have with people in the world: teacher, friend, boss, partner, acquaintance, elder, younger... the list goes on. I find it deeply challenging to work with all of these variances but equally exciting. I feel Classroom Alive: Ireland could be a profound place to explore this way of meeting.
My Question:
How will a daily practice of painting change my relationship with the outside world, other people and myself?
CHARLOTTE-ROSE BISHOP / Ireland
My name is Charlotte-Rose. I hail from the Garden of Ireland, Co. Wicklow. I live minutes from the Wicklow hills and minutes from the sea. And so I cycle. Constantly. I've explored the West on wheels. Learning to slow down and discover the land through the soles of the feet shall be an exciting challenge. I have spent rather a lot of time in my head for the last few months- I'm doing a Masters in International Development. The limbs are crying out to be uncurled and set to use. Learning through walking- its the perfect antidote.
My Question
What is my question? I still have a few weeks to form a coherent one from the masses of ones that are rushing around my head.
My name is Charlotte-Rose. I hail from the Garden of Ireland, Co. Wicklow. I live minutes from the Wicklow hills and minutes from the sea. And so I cycle. Constantly. I've explored the West on wheels. Learning to slow down and discover the land through the soles of the feet shall be an exciting challenge. I have spent rather a lot of time in my head for the last few months- I'm doing a Masters in International Development. The limbs are crying out to be uncurled and set to use. Learning through walking- its the perfect antidote.
My Question
What is my question? I still have a few weeks to form a coherent one from the masses of ones that are rushing around my head.
DAVID JACOBS / USA
I'm at a place in life were I've become a lot more interested in the questions regarding who I am and what I might be doing with my time on Earth. I have been searching for some answers over the past few years through the experiences of different jobs, classes and travel. Struggling with this quest I feel I am slowly getting closer to where I need to be. For me, Classroom Alive: Ireland is the next step toward a destination I can feel but still cannot clearly see. Growing up near Seattle Washington USA I spent a lot of time outdoors. Over the years I have learned to truly value the natural world and the effects it has on me. I am excited to be outside walking with questions in mind open to the universe and all it has to offer.
My Question:
What makes a good story? Why do some seem flat and hard to focus on while others captivate the listener/reader and effortlessly carry them through its words?
I'm at a place in life were I've become a lot more interested in the questions regarding who I am and what I might be doing with my time on Earth. I have been searching for some answers over the past few years through the experiences of different jobs, classes and travel. Struggling with this quest I feel I am slowly getting closer to where I need to be. For me, Classroom Alive: Ireland is the next step toward a destination I can feel but still cannot clearly see. Growing up near Seattle Washington USA I spent a lot of time outdoors. Over the years I have learned to truly value the natural world and the effects it has on me. I am excited to be outside walking with questions in mind open to the universe and all it has to offer.
My Question:
What makes a good story? Why do some seem flat and hard to focus on while others captivate the listener/reader and effortlessly carry them through its words?
MARTIN SUMMER / USA
I was born in Harlemville New York
Since lower school I have been very interested in architecture. As I grew older, this interest has developed into questions of what spaces we need to live in and what are the necessities in the buildings around us. This interest has also gone in the direction of how we, as human beings use the design of our structures, as our basis to connect our lives with nature.
I have come to believe that to understand how to create the spaces that we live in, it is important to understand and be in a relationship with nature, the earth and the places in which we live. Therefore with my study project of Land Art, Classroom Alive: Ireland is a journey that can deepen my artistic relationship and conversation with Nature. Also working alongside peers with the common ground of self directed journey education is an opportunity to develop my work in a way that would not be possible alone and to create a community that is in line with my ideals.
Study Project: Land Art
I will be creating a work a day and documenting it so as to harvest and understand the progression of the work as I hopefully become more in tune with nature.
I was born in Harlemville New York
Since lower school I have been very interested in architecture. As I grew older, this interest has developed into questions of what spaces we need to live in and what are the necessities in the buildings around us. This interest has also gone in the direction of how we, as human beings use the design of our structures, as our basis to connect our lives with nature.
I have come to believe that to understand how to create the spaces that we live in, it is important to understand and be in a relationship with nature, the earth and the places in which we live. Therefore with my study project of Land Art, Classroom Alive: Ireland is a journey that can deepen my artistic relationship and conversation with Nature. Also working alongside peers with the common ground of self directed journey education is an opportunity to develop my work in a way that would not be possible alone and to create a community that is in line with my ideals.
Study Project: Land Art
I will be creating a work a day and documenting it so as to harvest and understand the progression of the work as I hopefully become more in tune with nature.
MARIE-HELEN HAEGELE / GERMANY
What moves me is exploring.
Exploring nature, exploring my nature, exploring the nature of community, exploring the naturalness of experimental learning. The mind can be broadened through many ways. Why not combine them all under one project? As a Liberal Arts and Sciences student I am in the middle of liberal education, and I’m eager to take learning to a more experimental level. My name is Marie, I’m from Freiburg and I can’t wait to begin walking… The topic I want to engage with during this self-directed walking journey is feminism. On first sight the connection between feminism and classroom Alive:Ireland might not be apparent. But then… the female body in nature, feminism beyond society, gender roles in a small community, Eco-Feminism, Emancipation in Northern Ireland … There's so much to be explored!
What moves me is exploring.
Exploring nature, exploring my nature, exploring the nature of community, exploring the naturalness of experimental learning. The mind can be broadened through many ways. Why not combine them all under one project? As a Liberal Arts and Sciences student I am in the middle of liberal education, and I’m eager to take learning to a more experimental level. My name is Marie, I’m from Freiburg and I can’t wait to begin walking… The topic I want to engage with during this self-directed walking journey is feminism. On first sight the connection between feminism and classroom Alive:Ireland might not be apparent. But then… the female body in nature, feminism beyond society, gender roles in a small community, Eco-Feminism, Emancipation in Northern Ireland … There's so much to be explored!