Before becoming a gapper I had heard about reciprocity, but I hardly knew what it meant and had hardly practiced it. But in my life, I was struggling to answer the question “how can a community effectively and efficiently look after the individual?” So often in our society, our ideal community is that everyone should carry an equal weight, which might I add is quite ableist. (We live in a society-!)

Our lovely Jess decided to make a video journal for her entry for Week Eight (sorry, we’ve skipped a few weeks, and we’re behind! More updates coming soon!). Enjoy her incredible documentation of Electives Week One.

Entering Apprenticeship Week I, there was an excited and slightly nervous buzz as we slowly divided after lunch on Monday to head to our first apprenticeship block, none of us knowing what to expect from the coming week.

This week we embarked on our second trip, a canoe expedition on the Connecticut River. The river flows 400 miles through four states. It forms the Vermont- New Hampshire border, which is the section we canoed on.

How is this fire a metaphor for your life? This is the question our instructor, Tori, asked myself and 5 other gappers after building and tending to our own fires. As someone who had never slept in a tent or been on a hike more than just a casual stroll before Glen Brook, I assumed making a fire would be a difficult task, reserved for highly experienced hands.

Farm Foundations! From microbiology (i.e. soil nutrients and microbes) to macrobiology (i.e. sheep wrestling), this week the Gappers here at the farm were given a hands-on introduction to sustainable agriculture.

The Gapper Blog is back! Solana is here with a report and reflection from week one. She decided not to bring any technology with her this semester, so she wrote her journal entry by hand…

Happy spring! It’s a beautiful season here at Glen Brook - the apple trees are abuzz with pollinators, the lambs are frolicking in their new fresh green pastures, and the lilacs are blooming all around the Gap House.

Come meet us in person! We’ll be at four Gap Year fairs in the Boston area this month. Check out other Gap Year Programs, chat with alums, and get your questions answered. Hope to see you there!

Greetings visitors, it has been a moment since we last spoke! And many exciting things have happened between then and now…check the other blog posts to learn more about our escapades. I, however, will limit myself to discussing this last week, which featured beavers, apples, and the most fearsome creatures of all: mice.

Something that my cohort at Glen Brook learned very quickly about me is that I am Jewish, and Judaism– in many forms– plays a significant role in my life. I grew up in a Reform Jewish community in Southern CA, and went to either Reform or pluralistic Jewish days schools from preschool through 12th grade.

This past week we embarked on a 4 day canoe trip down a section of the Connecticut River. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect going into the trip, especially since I never canoed much before, and while there were difficult or strenuous moments, I overall found it to be a very enjoyable and relaxing experience.

For our first day of apprenticeships, the gappers headed to their chosen subject. Savannah, Ryan, and I decided to work in the main house kitchen with Chef Robyn. All of us were excited to take our next steps towards learning skills that would soon benefit our futures.

This week was chicken slaughter week so I spent more time than I’m used to with chicken guts - but I’d prefer not to talk about that. Instead, I’ll describe the wonderful experience that was Gapped.

Hi to whoever stumbled upon this entry! As the official “blogger of the week” (we trade off, all of us Gappers, 6 this fall, will do at least one entry), I am here to document and share what was done this week. It sure was packed, so strap in.

When you hear the phrase “gap year,” most people think of a formative year between high school and the beginning of college. But “gap years” can happen all throughout life: time between jobs, time after graduation, and even taking a sabbatical later in your career can all be a kind of gap year.

In starting work at Glen Brook, I’ve done a lot of reflecting on the journey that led me here. In a way, coming to Gap at GB feels like coming full circle: from my own gap year in 2010, through my experiences with experiential outdoor education since then, first as a participant, and then as an educator.

Spring is a time of growth and renewal, when the land wakes up with fresh opportunity. As we move into this brightening season, we give a hearty welcome and bid a fond farewell.

This afternoon, as I carried my backpack and paddle up the grassy trail to the Hill House, I noticed how much greener the trees had become over the five days we were gone. What were recently shy, grey buds had suddenly burst from their shells in a colorful ceremony welcoming the coming spring.

These past two weeks have been some of the more fulfilling weeks in my time here. We spent our time doing apprenticeships in the morning, and then paddle carving in the afternoon.