This second week [of Phase II] led to a lot of new and interesting experiences. Other than the regular scheduled classes and stewardships, an interesting and new experience for some showed up during the week. On Wednesday, we went to a new stewardship called Working With Horses.

This blog post marks the end of the first week of Phase Two. Our time in this phase is split primarily between Seminars, which are classes offered by Jake, Alison, and other Glen Brook staff, and Stewardship, where we spend time working with Glen Brook staff on the farm, in the grounds, or in the kitchen, helping them with whatever they are working on, as a way to participate in and give back to the community in a more whole way than we did in the previous phase.

During last week, we were on a canoe trip to Maine. We started on Monday, easing in with just 2.5 miles of paddling in about as many hours. On Tuesday, we had about four miles.

To end the summer, we’ve featured six alumni across five semesters of Gap at Glen Brook. We’re proud of the unique traits they each bring! Read below about Zoe, Sofie, Anya, Carmen, Lucas, and Monty.

As our first week at Glen Brook draws to a close, we are able to reflect on the new experiences, and the new lives we are going to lead for the coming weeks, and beyond. This week our theme was sustenance, and how we sustain ourselves.

"Lying under the stars, I thought about how I didn’t need to find my place in the universe, I just had to be me." -Xander S., Fall '17

The Gap Year Association (GYA) is a US Department of Justice-recognized organization setting rigorous standards for gap year programs worldwide. The accreditation process demands that a gap year organization like ours is meeting and abiding by a high level of integrity in programming.

Coming into our fourth semester of running the gap program together, Jake and I are increasingly aware that Gap at Glen Brook is part of something much greater than our program, and much farther reaching than the gappers that come to camp.

We met some folks from Wayfinding Academy at a conference, and were excited to find such a value-aligned, forward-thinking organization out there. Enjoy this post from our guest star!

OK, so you're at least thinking about taking a gap year or semester. But with so many possibilities out there, it can be hard to decide how to spend it!

So you want to take a gap year? Great! Gap years offer you a unique opportunity to devote intentional time to becoming an authentic and whole human being.