Here's one of our newest videos from Aventuras. We had a great experience and a tremendous, but edifying challenge to work on and hike Mt. Chirripo.

The American Gap Association reported from their 2015 alumni survey that students who opted to do a gap program,  experienced the greatest impacts related to their personal growth and development.  
On average, they had shorter times to college graduation and higher GPA as compared to national norms.  
They are also currently experiencing higher levels of job satisfaction and civic participation as compared to national norms.  

Harvard published an article listing the benefits of attending a gap experience, one being that prestigious colleges are now looking at these experiences as a desirable experience for their students. https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/preparing-college/should-i-take-time

Yes,  we see the wonders that a gap experience can do for the right young man, but what happens and what we can do for those that are not ready to be dropped off in a foreign country to figure things out for themselves?

The Bridge Program for Young Adults offers struggling young men the opportunity to access all the benefits of a gap program, but with a solid structure of therapeutic support and vocational exploration.

We work with our students to help them learn the skills to become well-rounded citizens by encouraging them to move out of their comfort zone, immersing themselves in a different culture and challenge their own perspectives.

Check out the incredible resume our participants  develop, rivaling or exceeding any other gap program while receiving guidance and support throughout the experience.

German psychiatrist Fritz Perls said “to mature means to take responsibility for your life!” But for him responsibility was not to be seen as an obligation or burden, but as: response-ability or ability to respond. Thus, responsibility is about being able to respond to what life brings and requires of us, instead of avoiding it, putting the blame on someone else, or reacting unhealthily because we lack the skills or abilities to respond. To be responsible is to own our life, to own our happiness, our sadness, our mistakes, our greatness; being responsible means we take charge of solving problems, we ask for help if we don’t have the answers, we take care of those around us, because they need us, and we need them. 

At The Bridge, we believe that exposing students to diverse experiences, challenges, and people, helps them tremendously to improve their responsibility, as they learn to not only be “able to respond” to one or a few perspectives, situations or problems, but they learn to respond to many, and not just in one or a few ways, but in a myriad of ways. This increases their confidence that they can navigate effectively whatever environment they choose to participate in after graduation. Thus, responsibility becomes a mantra or guide for our students, an easy point of reference of how to continue maturing, and an assessment tool for whether a particular behavior or situation was handled in a response-able manner. 

Out of this core value, we encourage students to show ability to respond to:

1. to be equipped to deal with different situations, including joy, wellness, hope, connectedness and diversity, as well as disagreement, conflict, disappointments, illness and frustration.
2. to attend to all essential dimensions of their life as young adults (physical health, psychological and emotional wellbeing, ethical behavior, life skills and executive functioning, family and social relationships, constructive and civic engagement, and educational attainment),
3. to own their actions and be accountable for their mistakes,
4. to be intentional with their behavior, as opposed to be reactive with it,
5. to contribute positively to all circles in which they have an impact, such as their peer group, The Bridge community, their families, the larger communities they are a part of and come in touch with, as well as be able to respond to themselves, attending to their own needs, goals, worldviews, etc., and
6. to guide their actions by constructive values, which are described below:
   • Positivity: Sharing optimism, fun, humor, kindness.
   • Authenticity: Being personally aware, being yourself openly, being vulnerable, showing integrity and gaining wisdom.
   • Supportive relationships: showing flexibility, sensitivity, compassion, empathy, caring, understanding and being receptive to others to provide social comfort.
   • Communication: Practicing respectful and open verbal and nonverbal communication.
   • Commitment to growth: showing ambition, courage, effort, determination, and perseverance to grow; being resourceful and creative to solve problems. 

So What Made the Difference?

College admissions say the following about the profile they are looking for:
“What is it that makes you unique, and how will you contribute to the life of our campus?” That’s what admission officers want to know, according to Earl Johnson, dean of admission at the University of Tulsa. To gauge what students can bring to their campus, they look for these types of qualities:

• Leadership
• A willingness to take risks
• Initiative
• A sense of social responsibility
• A commitment to service
• Special talents or abilities

Retrieved from: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-in/applying-101/character-counts-what-are-colleges-looking-for

Daniel's experiences at the Bridge surely meet these criteria. With his hours of community service, his internship with nonprofits in Costa Rica, his positive contributions to and leadership in our gap community, his initiative to willingly take a risk by attending a gap year to do something meaningful to prepare him for college, and his unique talents and abilities, his resume shows exactly the kind of applicant that any college admissions team would want in their community. Congratulations, Daniel!

At any age, one likes to feel competent and confident with most daily tasks. But anyone with foreign travel experience will have personal stories about the equalizing / leveling effects of any language or cultural differences. Even the simplest arrangements, such as calling for a cab (in a town that has no formal street addresses) can bring a “mature adult” to their knees in seconds. Heck, just asking my temporary roomie for a script that I could use to order a cab, was humbling… There was no way that I’d let him overhear my butchered Spanish:“Necessito un taxi…”

For some crazy reason I’d committed to direct work with young adults, adopting a fresh program model and philosophy, alongside sincere staff who seemed to be “chill” beyond anything I’d ever known, personally. So, with much trepidation, I stepped out of the taxi and into an impressively engineered rock and wood house that, at that moment, was in standard evening mode. The guys barely flinched upon seeing me. In fact, I questioned whether they even realized I’d walked in to their space.
This was “ah hah moment # 1”:  They weren’t being rude or distant… They were totally engaged in conversations, cyberspace, cooking, listening to tunes, watching a hysterical Australian comedian, doing laundry, doing homework, playing ping pong and pool, and unwinding after a long and hectic day. 
 
What was disconcerting or even unnerving, was a phenomenon that I describe as “extreme non-codependence”…quite disconcerting to the more anxious and needy among us, yet SO refreshing. It became clear that their demeanor was “nothing personal” and that it was a sure sign of healthy young adults, exhibiting boundaries and a sense of safety and self-assuredness, even in the presence of strangers.
 
While it’s quite easy to reward guys in a program for performing like polite chimps for visitors, the seasoned “milieu observer” will be far more impressed by participants who feel entirely comfortable being themselves, “warts and all,” with stuffing hanging out at times…  That’s life, and a program that respects “life on life’s terms” for residents is evolved and healthy.
 
So, to recap: Point 1; Self-assuredness and healthy participant boundaries without expectations for rewards or “cookies” in return is a subtle but clear differentiator for this program, in a sea of “competing” programs. If healthy “separation and individuation” are the primary challenges and goals of adolescence, one would expect and/or want to see signs of success in those developmental milestones in young adult personal growth programs.