TLDR: I loved this program. I left with such a sense of peace and confidence in myself that I didn't have when I arrived, and it impacted my choices and how I carried myself after I left, even to now. Spending the majority of the time outside and connecting with the land and engaging with so many elements of the natural world, within a guided cohort with mentorship, with plenty of time, was a unique and special opportunity, and I am so glad I took it.
For context, I was 20/21 when I was at Glen brook, and did the program during my "gap year" that I took in the middle of college. I was the oldest person in my cohort. I expected this to be the case--- however within my cohort, there was also another person who was 19 or 20 who had done some college/ life after high school, so I was not the only one. I was worried that my age would be big factor but it didn't feel like a big deal most of the time while I was there. being in a non-school setting definitely takes away the sense of difference between people based on their ages. Definitely was evident who was more prepared to live communally and away from home, but mostly everyone adapted and learned how to do that.
I had never been backpacking or spent time on a farm before this program, and I felt comfortable with the level of rigor and challenge that this program offered. Our program leaders did a great job preparing us for our trips, down to details like teaching us how to pack our backpacks so the weight would be distributed in the most comfortable way and we would be able to access the supplies we would need throughout the day. I also appreciated that the main elements of the program were primarily led by women and nonbinary people. Something we talked about explicitly was the difference between their approaches to leading outdoor trips compared to the approaches of men outdoor leaders whom they had had experiences with. We followed the "challenge by choice" framework. Our leaders also made hiking a non-competitive activity-- taking breaks was okay and welcome, and we were all able to go at our own pace (as long as we were in a reasonable distance or with a leader, which was very possible). For people who had more hiking and backpacking experience, they could hike faster and contribute in ways such as reading the maps, looking for blazes on the trail, and carrying more communal gear in their packs. Other folks contributed to trips by planning and packing the food, making sure all of the tents had all of their pieces, finding firewood when we got to our campsites, and filtering water. We were given more support and guidance at the beginning of the program and slowly got more autonomy to plan things ourselves and be responsible for trip packing and planning (as one example of increased independence).
Gappers will learn to work with each other and be accommodating of each others' needs, especially when living together and cooking meals for each other. We assigned a meal cooking schedule that would work with everyone's energy needs/strengths, and worked around any personal appointments that folks had. We thought through how to design meals that included food that everyone liked and could eat, being cognizant of allergies and preferences.
Amazing amazing part was working on the farm and in the field. There is now a new farm director who was not in the position during my program, so I cannot speak to the experience under his leadership, but I can say that my experience in the farming area was amazing. I loved learning about how the crop field was planned out, all of the decisions to be made, each stage of harvesting and weeding and planting we participated in. We got to learn so much by doing, and ask so many questions just as we were weeding or doing our work.
ALSO, we got to eat SO much fresh produce from the farm and it was absolutely delicious. we ate really well at Glen Brook! And I gained so much appreciation for farmers and freshly harvested in season produce.
The other staff at Glen Brook are so kind and welcoming, and it was fun to get to know them too. Each of these people taught us so many cool skills, like darning, forging, woodwork, songs, cooking, needle-felting, foraging, etc.
If you have an inkling that you love the outdoors and haven't gotten to explore much, or you already know that you love nature and have engaged in outdoor programs before, GB could be a great place for you. This is a program that is pretty scaffolded with significant support from program leaders. You will be working and living with all of your fellow gappers-- be prepared to navigate that and be open to new people. Program leaders will support your cohort through creating communication systems that will work for your group, and it is up to the participants to put in what they want to get out of it. Most of your time at GB will be spent onsite. You will have the opportunity to go to Keene and other towns on the weekend, and you will visit the places that trips take place (with maybe a few other places, depending on the structure of the program and any changes that have been made since my year!).
If this sounds interesting to you, reach out to the director of the program, Tori to just talk. She is amazing and was the reason I trusted this enough to go for it. Tori modeled for me that you can take many paths in life, try a lot of things, seek meaning and community, and through all of this build a really great life. I had been around a lot of conventional people and needed to get to know someone who took "alternative" paths, and I definitely felt that I got that mentorship while I was there.
ALSO: learned so much info about nature like tracking, types of trees, how plants work, how fire works, what wood is good for what types of fire, reading the woods, sustainable agriculture.
What was your funniest moment?
One morning in the Hill House, the house where gappers live together for most of the program, I was sitting at the long rectangular table eating breakfast with 3 of my fellow gappers. We had to be somewhere at 8am (or maybe 9) and it was about 7:55 (or 8:55). Three of us knew generally what time it was, and were working on finishing our breakfasts. Our 4th friend's watch alarm suddenly beeped. "THREE MINUTES!!" they shouted and bolted up from their seat on the bench next to me against the wall. "THREE MINUTES!" They exclaimed as the attempted to get out of the table "booth" to get to the door. However, in the process, they basically tried to go through our friend who was sitting in a chair at there head of the table. For some reason this struck us all as so absolutely hilarious and we all broke down laughing. Although this might not come across as especially funny (it definitely is a "you had to be there" kind of story), this exemplifies that so many of the funniest, enjoyable moments happened in kind of silly, small situations due to our close proximity and the way that living together lets you get to know others intimately.
There were plenty of other funny moments too-- definitely some while backpacking and being on the trail, during our time working on the farm, cooking meals together in the kitchen, dealing with odd and silly situations with animals and dirt and things that most of us were not so familiar with before this experience, in the car to get to our trips, etc.
We spent a lot of time laughing during the program!
