I am thinking about moving back to Portland just to do this! Anyone else thinking about doing it? I am going ot think about it for a few days and then try to get into the early registration… It sounds really exciting and worth it:
http://www.trackersnw.com/html/pdx/immersion/adult_immersion.php
-emily
Ok since no one has replied to this, I will! I decided, I am going to do it, I am sending my application in tomorrow! I talked to my family (who are really happy for me to be back in Ohio) and explained that I just won’t be able to do this anywhere else except Portland (Why is that?! Plus I have been planning on moving back sometime, so this just gives me a good time to do it- granted I get accepted!). They of course are concerned, because I have been moving around a bit, and not settling down, but it’s mainly because I haven’t found that “place” that I fit yet. My mom actually seems excited for me, and says do it if I can make the money situation work! Which I am positive I will, as I just got a job, and if I work at it until I leave next fall, then I will be able to meet all the payments easily 
yay! So this is an all-encompassing program with a lot of great features including permaculture, tracking, foraging, team building, natural healing, green building, and entrepreneurial skills, in which you get certified for a few of them, and I am looking at it like going back to college… Plus, I have been to a TrackersNW program before that my friend Alice gave, and it was great! C’mon everyone! Be excited!
-Emily
p.s. Although I am moving back to Portland, I will always view Ohio as my home, and appreciate it for that. It’s just that I have more opportunities in Portland, I think, and there are also friends there that I miss greatly! I will still always love Ohio, and will miss being with my family… bitterseet I guess…
I feel excited to have you up here! Thanks for your willingness to go on the adventure!
Thanks Willem! I am really excited to meet you guys and get involved, too bad it’s almost a whole year away! Plenty of time to plan though.
-emily
I was excited about seeing this but realized they ask for the information on your health insurance company and number. This must be due to liabilities, I’m sure TrackersNW does not want some sort of lawsuit against them.
Also, the cost of the program is $10,000.?
I just paid $20,000 to try and do a program like this for myself…
[quote=“tierra//crust, post:5, topic:515”]I was excited about seeing this but realized they ask for the information on your health insurance company and number. This must be due to liabilities, I’m sure TrackersNW does not want some sort of lawsuit against them.
Also, the cost of the program is $10,000.?[/quote]
well, it makes sense, if you are doing outdoor activities, there is the chance of someone getting hurt…
Also, this program offers a couple certifications, like Permaculture and Natural Building. Other places charge $1500 for just permaculture certification (you have to have a certification if you plan on including permaculture in your business plans), and it is only 7-14 day long course. This program is 9 months, with many different courses, and also a focus on entrepreneurship (so you can have a start on having your own business when finished), and they have PAID internships during the 9 months to help pay for the last half. Really, it’s not that much. And money, you know, it’s easy enough to come by (I just have a food service job right now, along with doing my artwork, and it’s not going to be a problem for me to meet the payment deadlines)… since it’s almost a year away. I guess money really doesn’t have much value to me, but the things that this program covers do, and that’s worth working for a year to raise the money. I know that I learn better from people and with other people as motivation and inspiration, and because I know TrackersNW and am familiar with their work, I feel confident that it will be an excellent experience and worth every penny. And, again, money has no value to me (maybe because I have none?!) so the price is not an issue… it’s good to have something to work towards like this, instead of slaving away to pay off bills or afford your lifestyle or apartment or car payments and gas… I would much rather work to pay for this program than all that crap! And afterwards, I will have a much better groundwork for starting my own business, or contacts to work for something I really believe in. This is all that matters to me.
-emily
hmmm, I didn’t mean to sound as if I were rich or something when I said “money has no value to me”, makes it sound like I have tons to just throw around (trustafarian? HELL NO!). This is the complete opposite of my situation, but because I am planning on completing this program, I got a job (I am for the most part anti-work/job). It’s not what I do, or how I would describe myself, if someone asks “what do you do?” (Oh, I am a busser at a fancy french restaurant, haha!) It’s just a way that I will be able to complete this program. For a while I have been just selling my artwork and having art shows and such, or making stuff to pay rent and bills, and lucky enough to make $1000 every month or so from that… enough to live off, but not enough to actually “have money.” But still, I find no real value in money. It is not something I think of as making me happy. Sure, it may allow me to do and learn things I want (that’s just how this society works, with money) but the real value is in the knowledge and experience itself, not the money that is required to do it. Sure I could do the things on my own that this program offers, but I would never ever actually be able to be as experienced or fully understand it on my own, as a lot of the things covered in the program are best learned and experienced in a group. And it would take a much longer time than this program allows. Anyway, just a few of my thoughts on the whole “price” topic… anyone care to contribute?
-emily
Right Emily, I understand and support the idea of not placing value on money. Learning these Skills in a collective setting is most definitely more valuable than cash.
However, realistically, how long would it take people like us to raise $10,000 (minus the paid internship)??
I guess to answer this question we would have to bring up class issues, and then analyze our economic standing. We will probably find out that some of us would indeed have a difficult near-impossible time accumulating the $10,000 capital needed to immerse oneself in this beautiful life-enhancing program.
I remember Derrick Jensen talking about how the crash of civilization will have a horrific impact on the unprepared peoples of poor urban areas.
Is there a place where people who cannot afford programs such as TrackersNW may go to start learning Skills?
If not then,
It would be great for poor urban families to start organizing their own rewilding camps. Self-organization might be the only alternative for those who cannot afford these programs.
$20,000 could pay for a rewilding program in a poor urban community…but I guess that’s not the main issue at stake here.
tierra/crust,
I have some thoughts on this subject but i don’t want to take this thread off on a tangent so I’m going to start a new thread called “money for knowlege” in this same category.
If a moderator wants to move it else where, please do.
It would be great for poor urban families to start organizing their own rewilding camps. Self-organization might be the only alternative for those who cannot afford these programs.
…That’s the idea behind rewild.info:
http://www.rewild.info/fieldguide/index.php?title=How_to_organize_a_Rewild_Camp
I only wish that I was in Portland for the ReWild camp, but I am in Ohio… so was not able to attend 
I think the Immersion program will be a good atmosphere for me to learn in because it has more structure and is more like a “school” than a week long event… (sometimes it takes me a little while to learn things!) Also, once I complete the program, I will have all those skills to trade/share with other! Anyway, I am still really looking forward to it! I started my job last week, and although I have no social life now, and am super tired all the time (I worked a double shift on friday, ugh…) I know that what I am working for right now is worth it and I only have to work until I leave for the program, so a year of it is not too bad. Also, all my free time in the spring/summer will still be spent on my permaculture/garden project and on foraging and learning other skills… I can’t wait!
-emily