The Immersion Survival Trek

This past week I had the opportunity to join a small group of my Immersion classmates on a voluntary, 3­-day survival trek. This practice is meant to prepare for a survival situation in which the group is traveling, hopefully towards rescue. The other type of survival trip we practice is “basecamp” survival. This is where […]

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From The Immersion to Storyteller

Hi, my name is Brian Mertins and I love Wilderness Awareness School. A few years ago I left my life on the east coast of Canada and traveled all the way across the continent to live in Duvall, Washington where I participated in The Immersion at Wilderness Awareness School and the Nature Instructor Training program. […]

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Class of 2016

The Immersion Graduation and Reflections

The past 9 months at The Immersion has been quite a plethora of new experiences, adventures, crafting, external and internal explorations, and the fortification of our connections with the earth, the natural world around us, ourselves, and each other. This Immersion year has been nothing at all of what I expected, and at the same […]

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Anake Students

The Immersion’s Fall Village Week

Village Week – October 27-29 2015 What a week full of fun! We gathered with our class this week for our first of three Village Weeks we will have throughout the year. We all headed into the week with a sense of mystery and unknown as there was not much telling of what we would […]

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Camouflage and Concealment

The year at The Immersion is coming to a close. We gathered for our last week of “normal” class time before embarking on the final three weeks of class; also known as the ‘The Gauntlet’. The Gauntlet is the time where we are put to the test to see how ingrained our skills are that we learned this year. But before […]

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camo eye

The Immersion Blog – Winter Guild Week – The Way of the Scout

During Guild Weeks at The Immersion students can choose from a variety of passion-based skills, such as entering the mind of a Scout. This past week I had the awesome opportunity to participate in three amazing days of training in “the ways of the scout”. The scout is a member of any tribe who acts […]

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rohan and owl

Alumni in Action: Value of Connection

For my professional career, I travel the country and count birds for a living. In my personal life, I am a recovering addict and active participant in my 12-step program, guiding others on their own journey toward addiction recovery. My time at The Immersion has not only deepened my connection with nature and improved my […]

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Alumni In Action: The Power of the Heart

I didn’t want to come to Wilderness Awareness School. Rain. Grey. A survival trip that required me to find my own food for a week. I was happy living in sunny California and originally told my partner he could go without me and just tell me all about it on weekly phone calls. Now, here […]

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Wilderness Awareness School