Redefining Responsibility as the ability to respond!

Responsibility - it's such a loaded word. 
​We all want to be responsible, but it can sound like such a drag!

 At the Bridge, we closely examine this nuanced concept and we challenge conventional notions, embracing a perspective where the essence of responsibility transcends mere obligation and duty. Instead, responsibility is akin to stepping onto a path of personal evolution—an adventure brimming with self-discovery and finding what you have to offer to your world. ​

 We urge individuals to cultivate awareness, discernment, and adaptability; these important skills not only assist emerging adults in navigating life's uncertainties but also foster their ability to thrive amidst its challenges and contribute their unique talents to make a difference to themselves and others.

​Join us as we unravel the layers of responsibility,
​inviting you to partake in acompelling progression of newfound agency and mattering.

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The word responsibility tends to be understood as duty, obligation or even as blame for something. This definition may evoke a sense of mere obedience and not the kind of dynamic growth intended for our students. Instead of that conception of responsibility, at The Bridge, we follow Fritz Perls’s (1971) interpretation, which basically breaks the word into its two root words: “response ability”.

Responsibility (the ability to respond) is The Bridge’s main goal and desired outcome for our students, which entails gaining and using awareness, discernment and adaptability. Before coming to us, our students have not had an adequate ability to respond to life’s challenges. Because of this, their wellbeing has suffered and they have failed to meet their goals, which in turn hurts their confidence.

To become responsible means that we implement a repertoire of skills that allow us to respond to many (ideally all) situations that life throws at us or goals that we want to achieve. Since life throws at us all kinds of unpredictable challenges, and goals vary immensely depending on many external and internal factors, possessing different kinds of skills, and recognizing how and when to use them is crucial.
 
This already tells us that one’s ability to respond (or responsibility) needs:

• Awareness: to understand the situation or goal at hand, 
• Discernment: to choose the skills and response that best fit the situation, 
• Adaptability: to modify our behavior or perspective, to learn new responses ​

On the contrary, when we lack the ability to respond, we may react instead of responding, which means we are not aware, choosing or adapting, but mainly just unconsciously using old responses to new situations. Those work sometimes, but most of the time they don’t. ​

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Don't forget to check out this 1-minute video from one of our alumni students redefining what responsibility means to him after his Bridge experience!

David graduated from The Bridge in 2016. He then went to Georgia State University and earned a degree in Philosophy and Chinese. Through discipline and sacrifice, he has successfully managed to combine working jobs that provide him stability, as well as give him the chance to sustain and further his creative projects

"The Bridge planted seeds of responsibility;
it was an introduction to being an adult."

"It took me from where I was to be willing to throw myself  into the next problem. That's how you have to approach it, as a one-step-at-a-time type of thing"

Stay tuned to learn more about which skills are needed to learn to be responsible! 🔎

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