Part 2: Supportive Remedies at The Bridge! 🗣️🌍
The Bridge stands as a testament to the fusion of supportive immersion and gap programs, nestled in a country where community, family, service, and respect hold deep meaning.
I share this not only to emphasize the significance of such a nurturing environment but also because it speaks to the very heart of the challenges faced by emerging adults today. In a world fraught with anxiety, uncertainty, and isolation, finding a place where you are accepted and celebrated for who you are is nothing short of a revelation.
It's a space where the masks we wear to conceal our insecurities can finally be laid to rest, allowing our true selves to emerge, unencumbered by fear or judgment. A chance to rediscover joy and creativity, unburdened by the weight of what isn't working in our lives.
0 Comments
PART 1 : What's Really Going On?
For those who transitioned into young adulthood against the backdrop of the Covid era, the landscape is fraught with unprecedented challenges, the full weight of which is yet to be fully comprehended.
As we ponder the profound challenges faced by emerging adults in today's tumultuous world, it becomes evident that traditional support approaches may fall short. Looking ahead to Part Two of our series, we'll explore how The Bridge in Costa Rica offers hope amidst the uncertainty. Through a holistic framework deeply rooted in Costa Rican culture, The Bridge embodies a paradigm shift in supporting young adults. By fostering deep connections, community engagement, and an expanded vision of the future, The Bridge guides young adults to rediscover themselves and their potential contributions to the world. Embark on a Virtual JourneyThanks to the wonderful help of our students we were able to finish our newest House Tour Video! You will get a glimpse into our wonderful green surroundings, students day to day-to-day living and hang out spaces, as well as a surprise visit from a few furry friends :) Take a look! Atenas, Costa Rica
Highlights:
"They have given me immense hope that my children can have a more comfortable and bigger space to live in." "I am so grateful."These are a few encouraging quotes from our latest Aventura project! We are working in collaboration with an organization called SIFAIS. Our main project is improving the living conditions for a single mom and her two kids! We are working on restoring and doing a lot of home improvements to their house, in addition to collaborating in their community center. Student Takeaways
Aventuras are an opportunity for our students to dive into different people’s lifestyles as well as to see themselves as contributors by developing various projects throughout their program stay.
Would you like to learn more about course reviews like this one? Read on... Dr. Danny Recio, PhD
Watch this short video showing students reflect on the class and their memorable field trip experience: The 9 Dimensions of Healthy Living framework stems from the robust research by the Gates Foundation on the "Dimensions of Young Adult Success".
After using this framework to guide and structure the personal growth and program experiences of our students for several years we thought, wouldn't this framework make for a really interesting and valuable college course?... So, we partnered up with Veritas University to offer a course called Sustainable Lifestyles, focused on young adult wellbeing and centered around the 9 Dimensions of Healthy Living. In addition to providing students with lots of information on how to navigate their wellbeing, it has tons of experiential elements that make it really engaging. Dr. Danny Recio & Dr. Heather Tracy Mental health is a hot topic at all levels of education, and higher ed is no exception.
Check out Dr. Danny Recio & Dr. Heather Tracy’s article published in the well respected EAIE FORUM magazine last summer of 2023. Finding the path to mental fitness: From languishing to flourishing is a worthy read!
In this episode of Success is Subjective, Danny joins Joanna Lilley to share his journey as he traveled as a young adult, exploring different cultures and how his gap year experience has stuck with him, even a decade later. Listen in for Danny’s insight on the impact the right gap year program can have on a young adult, possibly changing the entire trajectory of their life. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-118-making-the-most-of-your-young-adulthood/id1499891712?i=1000550592741 What You Will Learn
Here’s a really cool example of finding something within you and offering it to the world: This student came to us really thirsty to find meaning and purpose but was really struggling to find it. He describes the process of finding something within him that he could offer the world around him in the following way:
This student also washed cars to raise funds for the materials he used, and managed to fund them almost entirely on his own, which I believe added a sense of ownership and empowerment to the experience.
"I personally found this project profoundly meaningful and moving, but I also happen to know that it was tremendously touching to the families." He and I visited some of the families after the project. One of them in particular, the mother with the son in the wheelchair in the picture. She was so grateful, moved to tears to see our student, asking repeatedly when she’d see him again. You know, I think she was thankful for the ramp he built, but I got the sense that she was more grateful that he had shown care for her and her son, she was grateful that he had played Legos with her son and valued him as a person. I don’t think this young man is going to go on to work in construction or washing cars; that’s not necessarily what he found within him. I think he found that taking initiative to help the world around him motivates him and gives him energy. I imagine that will become a central part of his identity. by Dr. Danny Recio Young adulthood is a crucial time to shape one’s identity. We know that. And we know that when young adults feel lost and strangers to themselves is bad news. There’s a lot that can be said about how young adults develop their identity, but for us here at The Bridge one avenue is fundamental: you find something within you, a gift, a talent, a skill, and you figure out a way to have that fulfill a need in the world around you. Why is something so simple so powerful at the same time? Because...
Thanks to all of our collaborators who helped us build these two amazing 2-person apartments for the "Summit" (transition) phase of the Bridge. Now, students can practice true independent living before heading off to college, the work world or wherever their next step takes them! Bridge participants implement all they have learned in budgeting, menu planning, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, organizing their time and responsibilities as well as living with roommates. And they do it all in these beautiful apartments just down the hill from The Bridge house. Pura vida!
It's been a long time coming... a year, actually. But we are gearing up to reopen Casa Bridge at the end of June 2021. The pandemic has certainly created an obstacle that has tested our patience and our ability to walk the talk of navigating whatever life throws our way. That said, we are grateful to be announcing that the Bridge house will be opening in a few short weeks. What will change? What will stay the same?We've been meeting with our team for weeks to determine just how much we can immerse ourselves in this pandemic world. Certainly being vaccinated helps, but Costa Rica is slower than most at accomplishing these world-wide goals of vaccination and immunity. We feel good about the options we have to offer, especially for those young men who need to complete a couple of high school credits (and can do so at NSA) and want to experience a gap semester or year abroad to get themselves ready for college or the work world. HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS: If you are a senior or just need a few credits to graduate high school, you could finish up your diploma at New Summit Academy in the mornings while participating in Spanish immersion, internships, &/or college classes at Universidad Veritas in the afternoons. COLLEGE CLASSES: Although enrolling in college classes takes a couple to a few weeks to facilitate, it's definitely an option for our Bridge young adults.
INTERNSHIPS: If participants are vaccinated, then the world opens up to them. There are a variety of internships that are open and welcoming vaccinated students as long as they follow protocols for hygiene and mask-wearing with clients. So if working at a vet clinic, wildlife refuge, woodworking shop, coffee farm, automechanics shop, physical therapy office, or IT / computer shop sounds interesting, then you may be in business! Other options like teaching English at an elementary school, working at a hotel, etc. will be opening up shortly. BRIDGE LIVING: The daily life of a Bridge participant hasn't changed much.
So what are you waiting for? If this sounds like an opportunity to you, we're here. Email us today.
by Dr. Danny Recio, PhD The Bridge ~ Costa Rica will begin a hibernation period as our last student returns to the USA on July 17, 2020. For how long? We are not sure yet; it could be a few weeks, but it could end up being longer than that. The progression of the pandemic will dictate our actions.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, we decided to remain committed to guiding our enrolled students to appropriate closure of their process with us. And we have. We exercised tons of creative power to provide them with the best experience given the circumstances. And now, as Costa Rica’s borders are staying closed, and strict guidelines of social distancing continue, we feel it is best not to take any new students for the time being. It felt important to our integrity to stay on with the students we had, and it feels important to our integrity now to only take students until we can fulfill our mission in the way we have designed it; or until we design something else. The Bridge has been designed to have the world be the main therapist and teacher: the ride in the public bus into the city, the journey and immersion in a rural community, the local friendships, the perfect internship with a caring mentor, going to college in a foreign country. Those are all attenuated or dormant under our current conditions. So, we have decided to take a nap…and do what people do when they sleep: reenergize, dream, assimilate information and learn from experiences lived! As I begin to reflect on these experiences lived, tons of images flash through my head and I experience immense satisfaction at feeling like we have fulfilled our mission: “to support societal and global wellbeing through providing small scale experiences that will guide young adults to become more responsible, fulfilled and compassionate members of society on a larger scale” Thus, just like the world has been our main therapist and teacher, it is for the world that we have worked hard for the past 8 years. Yes, for the young men of course! But not so they become more self-centered and focused on their own pleasure seeking, but so they become empowered agents of change, so they realize that the world needs their own unique talents, even if they felt most of their life they had no talents or direction, and had to come all the way to a foreign land to find them. I am convinced this is a good mission, and we have data from our participants, publications, and research to support it. I am sure this mission will prevail because it helps its primary clients, it helps the world, it is resilient and it is adaptive. We are immensely thankful to all of you who have participated of our community. Rest assured that we will improve this mission and continue it, like the life that magically springs in a forest after a devastating fire. And yet, I wonder if when the day arrives, I will feel like we are taking a nap or we are waking up from an 8 year dream. If that is so, I am sure I will regard it as one the most amazing dreams I have ever had… Thank you all for your continued support of The Bridge - Costa Rica. We do believe that now, more than ever, the cross-cultural experiences that we provide are crucial to awakening empathy, equality, equity and life long learning and connection. |
Categories
All
Archives
December 2023
|