From the Brook: Reflections from our Gapprentice

here is snow on the ground here at Glen Brook the day after our Fall 2018 season came to a close. Now that the gappers have left, we are left to reflect on the semester we’ve shared with our curious cohort.

Evan Ho, our Gap Apprentice (or “Gapprentice”), lived in the Gap House alongside our gappers this semester. Please enjoy his thoughts as our Fall semester comes to a close:

Two and a half months can seem long given the circumstances, but it isn't.

Living with people one has never met at a crucial youth age of 18-20 is both exciting and anxiety-ridden for most. I was given the opportunity to live alongside 9 individuals who were collectively sharing that new experience for the first time. It had not been long since I was a part of a program very similar to theirs...
It felt often that my experiences were being reflected back at me. 

Both of our programs shared this: Trying to remember how to connect with one another, and then, in turn, everything else. Healing the human-earth relationship could be another way of putting it. This much soon became clear to this group: Some were inquisitive. Some seemed more nervous than others. Some quickly became very excited to be away from home, on their own, in such a nurturing space. However, above all else, all of these individuals deeply embraced the intentions set whether they realized it or not.

Sitting in a circle of people for the first time to talk about your feelings, whether you know them very well or not at all, can be violently unsettling for many people who live in this world today. It takes strength to muster any amount of real vulnerability around a large group of people let alone more than one person...or even when you're alone!  

Our final community-wide feast, called GlenGiving, was hosted and prepared by the gappers. Sam cooked a 40-pound turkey; Nory baked 6 pumpkin pies from Glen Brook pumpkins—and both were widely agreed to be the best anyone had ever had! Also featuring Dan’s home-made sourdough, Ed’s slow-cooked potatoes, and many other culinary delights.

In saying this, all of these friends of mine seemingly entering a new culture of the world, I had the pleasure to witness, for all of them, moments of vulnerability that led to transformational moments in their lives—and thus transformations in the reality we are all part of. I had the pleasure of witnessing growth both in myself, in my fellow youths, and, in turn, the world.

By the end of the program, these people seemed both humble and humbled, in their moving forwards. I see many beautiful ripples in energy being sent out into the world leaving this space.