Student placement at sea

- For a long time, I've been thinking that I want to work with people and nature, and especially with people who face challenges in life. Seeing the development many of these young people underwent during the voyage gave me an extra spark .

The quote above belong to Silje Tonette Hammerø Kroknes, a student of the Bachelor's degree in Outdoor Life and Nature Guide. Silje boarded the famous sailing ship Christian Radich in Lisbon, Portugal together with fellow student, Ragnhild Wirak, and about 60 other sailors for a month-long journey.

40 of the participants were young people facing various challenges in life. The rest were professional crew members, with the students from Volda serving as mentors - acting as an extended arm of the professional crew.

Everyone lived together for a month on the 62.5-meter-long sailing ship which offered little in terms of material luxury, but all the more in terms of experiences and achievements.

-We lived in dormitories with 15 people in the same room, we just had to get to know each other, says Ragnhild and Silje with a smile.

The placement period aboard the Christian Radich is offered to third year students in the Bachelor's degree in Sports and Physical Education at Volda University College. The placement is a part of the course "Health Promotion", which is a joint course with the BA Outdoor Life and Nature Guide.

Tough Times On Board

The Volda-students took part in the Windjammer project, a program for young people who are at risk of dropping out of school and/or the job market. The month-long voyage at sea is a part of a programme to help these youths cope with a difficult situation in life.

The young participants have different backgrounds, some live in care institutions and have done so for large parts of their lives, others have lived secluded or challenging lives at home.

Aboard the Christian Radich awaits tough work, challenging social settings, and a much "simpler" life without the 2024 modern amenities that the youngsters are used to.

-It's a big boat with many sails and several kilometers of rigging. When we had to set sails and take down sails, it was real teamwork. Not to mention having to climb up the high masts, which is 37 meters high. Some had to stand at the helm and steer the ship, others had to stand and look out over the sea, a fire watch round was walked twice an hour, and everyone had to take turns to clean toilets and showers, Ragnhild and Silje explain.

-In addition, we got to learn about different sails, sailing theory, different types of ships, sailing history, sailor songs, and the wind and meteorology.

There's always someone on duty on the boat, the two Volda students were part of their own watch crew.

-It may sound a bit brutal to go on duty at four in the morning and keep going until eight in the morning for a month. But we got used to it, and we were also rewarded with amazing views star-light skies and amazing sunrises. Actually, we were privileged, Silje thinks.

Empowering Youths

Two days before the sailing was to start and the participants arrived in Lisbon, the students were trained by the professional crew on how the ship operates. In addition, they received some background information about the participating youths.

-Naturally, the young people struggled to find 'their place' on the boat and in the community at the beginning, says Ragnhild.

The students got close to the young people in this first phase, and it didn't take them a long time to get acquainted with them.

-We guided them along the way, and they gradually managed more and more on their own. This type of guidance was a great way to have one-on-one conversations with them. We got closer to some, often because they needed extra follow-up. Many good conversations came out of it, the students think.

Silje got in particularly good contact with on of the participants.

-I especially got to know one of the girls in my guard team. At first she didn't speak at all, but gradually she took the initiative in conversations herself and opened up. She also climbed higher and higher into the rigging of the sails and mastered the physical part of the experience. It was really fun to help contribute to, and follow, such a development, says Silje.

Meaning in life

Helga Synnevåg Løvoll, professor of outdoor life at Volda University College, is the reason why Volda students get the opportunity to take part in the Windjammer project and sail with Christian Radich.

She herself has taken part in one of these voyages and has done research on the effects on the participating youths. She was looking for the immediate feelings the young people got from learning to climb the rigging of the sailboat, stand at the helm of such a large boat, experience the waves and the wildlife, the starry sky and the community. And not least, what was it like for these young people to be part of the crew? There was no room to shy away, everyone has to do their job.

Without mobile phone coverage and isolated on a boat in the middle of the ocean, the youths are "forced" to be social - and with people they don't know before.

-We saw that many of the youths experienced a greater self-acceptance than prior to the voyage. The journey containes many challenging social settings for them, where they had to be voulnerable in front of others. Overcoming these situations increased their meaning in life as according to the quality of life definition in our research.

From gaming to sailing

Løvoll says that during her voyage with Christian Radich she witnessed a 180 degree turn in the life of a young person. A gripping story that has burned into the memory of the professor.

-This was a young person who for several months had only sat in his room and played computer games. He had not been out of the house, nor used his voice to any great extent, during these months.

But then:

-He really flourished on board, excelled in climbing the rig, took a leadership role and ended up as a resource person in the group. It turned out that he had a powerful voice that was an asset at sea. After the experience, he considered a career in sailing as a possible path in life, and the good thing is that the Windjammer project also offers sailing courses. Several of the young participants have taken up the idea of ​​working at sea, says Løvoll.

Good feedback from participants

Løvoll is happy to be able to offer her students an internship experience on board Christian Radich.

-There is a lot of hard work for our students on board. They must act as good role models, test out new things, take the lead and motivate the young people to try. Sailing with Christian Radich should be a life-chaning experience - both for the young people and the students, says Løvoll.

Many probably felt an extra sense of mastery and empowerment when they dared to climb up the 37 meter high mast.

-I think it was scary even at the start, and this was a common ground with the young participants on the voyage. It became a thing we had in common and many of us overcame this fear and felt empowered by overcoming it, says Ragnhild.

She praises the Windjammer project and its value to society. Not to mention the importance it has for each of the young participants. Six sailings a year means that there are a large number of young people who have been taken part in the project since the start in 2018. According to the project itself, nine out of ten young people say that the voyage with Christian Radich has been life-changing for them.

-It is good that all young people have the opportunity for self-realisation and empowerment - regardless of their background. Not everyone fits into a theory-heavy school, for example. I have learned a lot about others, but also about myself on this trip, reflects Ragnhild.

-Yes, it has strengthened my desire to help people and preferably to use nature experiences in this kind of work, says Silje.

-I can actually imagine working at sea later myself, Ragnhild interjects with a smile and lets the good tone linger in the sea air.

More options than just teaching

The first students from the Volda University College joined the Windjammer project in 2022, and since them many more students have completed a placement aboard the sailing ship. The students come from both the Bachelor in Outdoor Life and Nature Guide and the Bachelor in Sports and Physical Education.

Løvoll has no doubt that the Windjammer project is important.

-It helps that vulnerable groups in society can also have good lives, which is a major societal task. It also makes sense from a socio-economic point of view.

Some may think that students who take a Bachelor in Outdoor Life and Nature Guide or Sports and Physical Education will end up as teachers.

-There are many other options, both in the public sector, in NGOs and in the private business world - and the Windjammer project is a good example of that. It is an inspiring project that requires a multi-skilled staff, and our students will be able to carry out such projects, says Løvoll.

A variety of placements in the outdoor life programme

Silje and Ragnhild talk about several different placement periods in the Bachelor in Outdoor Life and Nature Guide. In the first semester, both had observational practice at a folk high school. In the second semester, they had mentored practice, where Ragnhild was a course leader on a winter outdoor life course, while Ragnhild was a leader at the Beitostølen health sports center. In the third semester, the students were to guide each other on a hiking trip. While in the fourth semester, the students were in practice with a guide company, where Ragnhild worked for 62°NORD and Silje for Opplev Runde.

In the fifth semester, students study the course "Health-promotion", which includes a longer placement period. This is where the opportunity to join the Windjammer project comes in.

Some students have chosen to use the placement period to create training programs for people with dementia in Volda, some have created activity programs for immigrants and there has also been examples of students who have set out on a 14-day trip alone in the wilderness, to explore their own mental health.

-The possibilities are many, and the knowledge the students have can be used in many contexts, says Løvoll.

Once back in port in Lisbon after a month's sailing, both the brains and hearts of Ragnhild and Silje had received plenty of refills.

-We could not have had a better internship period, we are very grateful that we had the opportunity to do this. We learned so much and grew genuinly fond of the people we met.