How to «be present» at folk high school

Seek out common rooms

Instead of lying in your room and scrolling, sit in the fireplace room and put away the phone so that people understand that you are open and want to meet. If you are going to hang out with several people, you can consider doing this in a common area. Invite others along, and show that there is room for more. The litters that manage to establish the fireplace room as an active common room always have a pleasant, social and inclusive base where something always happens, and where anyone can show up and feel welcome.

Limit the use of social media to 30 min per. day

This tip fronts several psychologists, and the organization "World Mental Health Day". Good tips to make it happen:

• Call more, send fewer messages and snap. Then you do not have to check the phone all the time and can be more present, and you get updated on family and friends more efficiently.
• Stop following channels or people who offer pastimes and fun but brain-dead content. The same tip applies to people you do not know and the influences / celebrities - where is the line between content that inspires, and content that makes you feel that you should perform better?
• Delete time and focus apps, like addictive games.
• Turn off alerts and the red dots with numbers that make you just HAVE to check in and check an app.
• Set app limits for how much you want to use an app each day. Log out on the phone, and check e.g. Instagram on the PC instead. (Now you can even post to Insta from a computer. Crazy, I know).
• Lie down and get up without a phone. Put the phone out of reach of the bed if the temptation becomes too great. Many apps are designed to keep us on screen, offering endless scrolling and constantly suggesting new content. These are the apps you should shy away from like the plague, especially at night. (And you will most likely get better sleep as a bonus).
• Use news sites that do not also offer entertainment. (Tip: Bookmark https://www.nrk.no/urix/ or https://www.nrk.no/norge/, to get to services without distractions).
• Ask yourself: what benefit do you have from the content you have scrolled through in one day?

Choose electives you want

… Not the subjects your friends take. If you've got a bunch of friends, it's great - but by making an independent choice of electives, you get into groups where you'll have to talk to new people - with people you already share an interest or curiosity with. You have chosen the same subject for a reason!

Join student evenings and program evenings

Sometimes a quiet movie night may be tempting, and of course it's allowed. But we recommend joining the social evenings that are arranged. The more people who join, the better the motivation of those who arrange the evening to come up with something cool. And the more people want to come. And then the evenings get even better. And then more will come… You get the point 🙂 In addition, the scheme is often designed to be known in a new way, and facilitates that you meet more from other lines.

Say hello to new people

Mysteriously, groups are established, and who you say hello to. If you meet someone you for some reason do not greet, you should go within yourself. Why? Challenge yourself to say hello, and do not give up until you get hello back.

Start tournaments and toys

Table tennis, corner football, billiards, beach volleyball, ice hockey, fast chess, poker, darts. Tournaments make the game more fun and can open up for more people to join. It is possible to get the whole school on the mafia, capture the flag, film marathon, secret friend (unfriend?) Or the prankster for a little extra excitement in everyday life. Either way, do not wait for others to start something fun. Do it yourself!

Teach something you can

Are you good at juggling, can solve a rubik's cube, can do short tricks, are you good at standing on your hands or knit sweaters on a conveyor belt? Create a course for your classmates.

Fuck FOMO

Yes, this advice is a bit contradictory. But it is actually not possible to get everything at folk high school - as elsewhere in life. It is allowed to take breaks, recharge your batteries and let the world sail on without you struggling to be part of everything, or to perform to the maximum on all levels. Practice that things are good enough as they are.

And if you follow the advice above, you will get better out of your time, and may have a good conscience to opt out sometimes.