AIDS; someof themhaveautism.Allof
them, tosomedegree, learn tosurf.
TheIndoJaxcampsare fundedby
grants, sponsorshipsandprivatedona-
tions,but theenterprise’sgreatestasset is
Viorel,whoseenthusiasm isas important
ashisexpertise. “Itdoesn’tmatter if they
eversurfagain,”hesays. “But they think,
‘Icansurf, Icandoanything.’And that isa
verypowerful thing.”
Over theyears,Viorelhasdevelopeda
kindofcurriculum:Basic trainingstarts
outwith instructorswalkingstudents to
thesurf’sedge to let them feel thewater,
thenencouraging them towade inuntil
theyarecomfortable in thewater.Then
theyreturn todry land,where theyprac-
ticepoppinguponto theboard.Thehope
is that the lessonsendwithastudentactu-
allyridingawave, even fora fewseconds.
ForViorel, though, surfing isameans
rather thananend.Hehopes to teachhis
students to face their fears, to feelpride,
tohandle failure.Hewants them to learn
that theflipsideof falling is theopportu-
nity togetupand tryagain. “I thinkone
of themostsignificant things iswhen they
can takeawipeoutandchargebackout,”
hesays. “That’ssignificant for their lives.”
Noteveryoneshares thisview.He
facedheavycriticismwhenhefirststarted
thecamp forblindkids. “Igothateemails.
‘Youshouldn’tbedoing this.This is too
dangerous.Thosekidsshouldnotbe
surfing,’”hesays. “Afterall thatsunk in, I
started torespondwith, ‘You’rewhywe’re
doing this.Thiswhole idea that theycan’t
docertain things iswhywe’redoing this.’”
V
iorel lovesunderdogs, in
largepartbecausehesees
himselfasone. Inhigh
school,hewas toldhewas
toosmall toplay football.
Hedidsowellat thesport thathewenton
toplaywidereceiverat theUniversityof
California,Davis.Heenjoysprovingpeo-
plewrongsomuch,hesays,hewonders if
it’sacharacterflaw.
Aftergraduating fromUCDavis in
1990,Viorel spentsummerssurfingand
winterssnowboarding.But therewas
somethingnaggingathim, something tell-
inghimheneeded todomore. “Icracked
under that,”hesays.Sohewentback to
school togeta teachingcertificate.
Hisfirst jobwas teachingspecial-needs
second-gradersatSunnybraeElementary
School inSanMateo,California.Hewas
terrified.Thefirstyearwasonebigwipe-
outafteranother,buthekeptgettingup.
Asheput it inarecentTEDxTalk: “Iknew
fromsurfing thatwheneverI’mout there,
and it’sbig, andyou’rescared, youeither
commit to it100percentoryougetoutof
thewater.”
Workingwithfirst-andsecond-
graders,hewasanunconventional
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DECEMBER2015
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“WEARE
SHOOTINGFOR
SOMETHING
MUCHGREATER
THANSURFING.”
Viorel’s trademarkgreenVolkswagen
