Kathrine Sollien has been a student at Vefsn Folkehøgskole Toppen, and in this blog she tells about her year at the folk high school, her experiences and what the school has meant to her.
Before I started at Toppen I often felt different and that I didn't fit into social settings. I even thought I was more mature and better at looking ahead and staying focused than most people. Thus, my interest in socializing with the yawls was very small. I also found it difficult with the relationships I was trying to maintain, as “youngsters nowadays” seem to have no interest in meeting and being active together outside of social media.
Why Folk High School?
The fact that I was going to folk high school, I had decided to do already as a thirteen-year-old. I wanted to do something else, because already then I was so tired of school. I also got tired of chasing after good grades, which I had no idea what to use for. Traveling out into the world after high school was out of the question, as I loved routines and control and was so addicted to them that I didn't dare choose something so unpredictable, that wouldn't even earn me credits.
Just cuddling and knitting at folk high school?
As you see, I have always had high ambitions and at this time I was also very afraid to waste my time. The first thing that struck me at the beginning of the school year was precisely this fear: that this was just another year of cuddling and knitting! But that feeling was quickly forgotten when, for the first time in a very long time, I experienced that people contacted me and showed interest to get to know me. I'm probably someone who spends some time getting to know others, and was worried that I didn't make fifteen new best friends within the first few months, as most of the folk college brochures almost promised. But that's why it was so nice that we lived together at school, and that's how we got to see so many sides of each other.
The theater course at Toppen
The Theatre Line at Toppen has given me so much. At first, I was skeptical about my theater class, as I seemed to be the one with the most experience and the highest aspirations. What if the others didn't care as much about the projects? But they so absolutely did care. On the contrary, it was good for me to work with others who wasn't so keen on being the cleverest. But they were still engaged. The fact that I was ambitious meant that I had the opportunity to take some extra responsibility during the productions, which was very instructive for me. During the first production (Counting to Zero), I was a little unhappy that we were left a lot to ourselves, as the class was split up into two different productions. In retrospect, I've seen our trials and fails with this setup as very valuable. I have used the experience later as a theatre director, and even talked about this particular production at the entrance exams to higher theatre schools!
Courage, Mastery and Opportunities at Toppen
I was thrown out in so much outside of my comfort zone; such as living close to other people, living in someone else's mess, writing personal monologues, and being offered hugs and physical contact every day. Even staying up until midnight felt like a loss of control for me before I started folk high school. And as I grew on letting go of control! I made so many friends with different interests than me and was really I was surprised at how many different types of people I actually got along with.
Varied everyday life
I chose Toppen because of their great variety in electives. I think they were very well organized and followed up. Although attended the theater course, I could challenge myself in the climbing wall, participate in ballgame tournaments and race with mountain sports students (I lost every time, admittedly).
Over the past year, I have dedicated myself to working on entrance exams to acting graduates (for the second time), worked as a waitress and with children with developmental variations in school, as well as been theatre director, backpacket in South Africa and attempted to give the author's dream a chance. In the fall, I'll start Oslo School of Culture 's full-time program for young acting sprouts and hopes to get into further acting education later on.
I am eternally grateful for the Year at Toppen. After a somewhat introverted adolescence, the desire to live a normal social life was awakened and without you I would not have discovered the importance of doing things that one is passionate about.
Thank you for all you have given me.
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