Gap Semester in New Hampshire. Farm, Nature Connection, Community Living

The gap year at Glen Brook was a very rich and memorable experience for our teen. It was everything we had hoped for in a gap year program as parents, and in many ways, even more. After finishing high school, our teen was feeling burned out and not quite ready for the next step. What drew us to Glen Brook was the strong emphasis on community, time in nature, and hands-on learning, all within a small, close-knit environment that values reflection and relationships. The students live together in a beautiful house, surrounded by magnificent landscapes, and have the chance to experience the magic of fall in New England with all its colors.

During the program that our child attended in the fall 2025, the students went on multiple hikes that pushed them outside their comfort zone and taught lasting skills. They worked with wood and metal, cooked meals, and took part in the day-to-day rhythm of the community. The part our kid loved most, though, was working with the animals, caring for chickens, sheep, and cows.

The Program Director, MJ, and the rest of the team are phenomenal. They are incredibly skilled at creating a supportive, tight-knit group while guiding young people through both challenges and growth. They push students in the right ways, while also providing the support and structure they needed.

We are so grateful for this experience and cannot recommend the program highly enough. It truly gives young people the space to grow, learn about themselves, and create memories that stay with them for life.

TLDR: I loved this program. I left with such a sense of peace and confidence in myself that I didn't have when I arrived, and it impacted my choices and how I carried myself after I left, even to now. Spending the majority of the time outside and connecting with the land and engaging with so many elements of the natural world, within a guided cohort with mentorship, with plenty of time, was a unique and special opportunity, and I am so glad I took it.
For context, I was 20/21 when I was at Glen brook, and did the program during my "gap year" that I took in the middle of college. I was the oldest person in my cohort. I expected this to be the case--- however within my cohort, there was also another person who was 19 or 20 who had done some college/ life after high school, so I was not the only one. I was worried that my age would be big factor but it didn't feel like a big deal most of the time while I was there. being in a non-school setting definitely takes away the sense of difference between people based on their ages. Definitely was evident who was more prepared to live communally and away from home, but mostly everyone adapted and learned how to do that.
I had never been backpacking or spent time on a farm before this program, and I felt comfortable with the level of rigor and challenge that this program offered. Our program leaders did a great job preparing us for our trips, down to details like teaching us how to pack our backpacks so the weight would be distributed in the most comfortable way and we would be able to access the supplies we would need throughout the day. I also appreciated that the main elements of the program were primarily led by women and nonbinary people. Something we talked about explicitly was the difference between their approaches to leading outdoor trips compared to the approaches of men outdoor leaders whom they had had experiences with. We followed the "challenge by choice" framework. Our leaders also made hiking a non-competitive activity-- taking breaks was okay and welcome, and we were all able to go at our own pace (as long as we were in a reasonable distance or with a leader, which was very possible). For people who had more hiking and backpacking experience, they could hike faster and contribute in ways such as reading the maps, looking for blazes on the trail, and carrying more communal gear in their packs. Other folks contributed to trips by planning and packing the food, making sure all of the tents had all of their pieces, finding firewood when we got to our campsites, and filtering water. We were given more support and guidance at the beginning of the program and slowly got more autonomy to plan things ourselves and be responsible for trip packing and planning (as one example of increased independence).
Gappers will learn to work with each other and be accommodating of each others' needs, especially when living together and cooking meals for each other. We assigned a meal cooking schedule that would work with everyone's energy needs/strengths, and worked around any personal appointments that folks had. We thought through how to design meals that included food that everyone liked and could eat, being cognizant of allergies and preferences.
Amazing amazing part was working on the farm and in the field. There is now a new farm director who was not in the position during my program, so I cannot speak to the experience under his leadership, but I can say that my experience in the farming area was amazing. I loved learning about how the crop field was planned out, all of the decisions to be made, each stage of harvesting and weeding and planting we participated in. We got to learn so much by doing, and ask so many questions just as we were weeding or doing our work.
ALSO, we got to eat SO much fresh produce from the farm and it was absolutely delicious. we ate really well at Glen Brook! And I gained so much appreciation for farmers and freshly harvested in season produce.
The other staff at Glen Brook are so kind and welcoming, and it was fun to get to know them too. Each of these people taught us so many cool skills, like darning, forging, woodwork, songs, cooking, needle-felting, foraging, etc.
If you have an inkling that you love the outdoors and haven't gotten to explore much, or you already know that you love nature and have engaged in outdoor programs before, GB could be a great place for you. This is a program that is pretty scaffolded with significant support from program leaders. You will be working and living with all of your fellow gappers-- be prepared to navigate that and be open to new people. Program leaders will support your cohort through creating communication systems that will work for your group, and it is up to the participants to put in what they want to get out of it. Most of your time at GB will be spent onsite. You will have the opportunity to go to Keene and other towns on the weekend, and you will visit the places that trips take place (with maybe a few other places, depending on the structure of the program and any changes that have been made since my year!).
If this sounds interesting to you, reach out to the director of the program, Tori to just talk. She is amazing and was the reason I trusted this enough to go for it. Tori modeled for me that you can take many paths in life, try a lot of things, seek meaning and community, and through all of this build a really great life. I had been around a lot of conventional people and needed to get to know someone who took "alternative" paths, and I definitely felt that I got that mentorship while I was there.

ALSO: learned so much info about nature like tracking, types of trees, how plants work, how fire works, what wood is good for what types of fire, reading the woods, sustainable agriculture.

Glen Brook completely blew my expectations out of the water. I became so much more calm and confident through this program. I loved my cohort so much, and I learned a lot just by living alongside them. I felt like I learned about my place in the natural world, as well as communities of people. The community was rural, but I really liked it- it made me learn to appreciate things just as they are. I got a lot better at cooking, both alone and with others, during my time cooking for my community at Glen Brook. The large amount of time we spent outside also had a very positive effect on me. I'm truly so happy that I chose Glen Brook for my gap year.

I was super nervous about spending my fall in New Hampshire, mainly because coming form LA I have never experienced a real cold season. Luckily it was incredibly worth it even if I got a little cold.

At Gap and Glen Brook I went on so many amazing and challenging trips, from Canoeing in Maine, to days of hiking the MSG. I learned so much about life on the farm and outdoor leadership. I was expecting many aspects to be less impactful because I went on a gap program in the middle of the Corona virus pandemic, but that was not so. I was able to create an amazing experience with some amazing people.

Life with my cohort was the highlight of the program for me, there were 13 from all over America, we got a chance to build incredible bonds over the three months and make some crazy memories together. Living in falcon camp together and moving to the warm hill-house felt incredibly rewarding, I got to live with the most amazing roommates.

I got sold on this program by reading the reviews on this website, so I hope to inspire others to do the same.

It is the perfect place to escape from the clamor and congestion of the fast-paced, technological, material lifestyle. Although guided by many knowledgeable and down-to-earth staff members, it is YOU who decides how to use your time. Pushing your limits is a must! It is beneficial in order to know yourself better, and what better way to find that answer than meditating amongst beautiful nature. Make the most of your time here, it is a valuable gem. It is important to try living simplistically midst the plentiful world.

My experience as a part of Glen Brook's 2019 fall semester cohort was a truly life-changing one, it is a safe place for all young people, whether you are looking to take some time to venture into the world before starting college, looking for direction in your next step of life, or just want to experience nature and grow your understanding of yourself in relation to the rest of the earth. It is a fantastic environment to grow, adventure, and get out of your comfort zone while also learning valuable life skills such as communication and community building, as well as cooking, gardening/farming, time management, planning skills, and so much more. It wasn't easy, this program pushed to think differently and challenged me mentally, emotionally, and physically in a way I hadn't experienced in a very long time, but it's because of those struggles that I left Glen Brook happier and more self-confident than ever. I spent my semester experiencing beautiful New England fall foliage, exploring nearby towns and farmers markets on weekends, and making life long friends and connections.

Glen Brook was great because what it does, is help you find yourself. That may sound cliché, but it's 100% true. It helped me to figure out what was happening in my life, what was going wrong, and what the ways were that best for me to use to fix things. I came from three lackluster semesters of college, not sure what to do with my life and where to go, to finding all the right tools to use to help myself keep moving forward. I learned about myself, and a I learned so much about the people around me as well, and how really, we're not all different as one might think.

It is often times difficult for me to express how much I adore Glen Brook. I've been spending the past 8 summers there as a camper and CIT and it's a place I now consider my second home. This organic farm overlooking Mt. Monadnock is truly beautiful and filled with the most intelligent, kind hearted and mindful individuals that I'm grateful I've gotten to know and learn from. The lessons I had learned and the ways in which I had grown were already abundant from spending each summer there yet the gap program helped me grow in a new way. The connection I had with the Earth around me became even deeper and the ways in which I matured were pronounced. Stepping into an environment with little to no technology and distractive media truly helped me reflect on the world in which I inhabit. Learning to plant, grow and harvest our own vegetables to then directly cook for dinner with the other gapers gave me an immense amount of gratitude like no other. Similarly, using the wood from a fallen tree to carve a spoon instilled that same idea. It inspired a sense of personal responsibility as an individual living on this planet to act as I can to leave a positive footprint. Not to mention, this program has a wonderful balance of outdoor adventure trips, workshops, apprenticeships and meaningful activities. I learned an abundance of new skills, like cooking new dishes and creating a one match fire, as well as had the experience of living in a house with 10 other gapers. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to attend Gap at Glen Brook!