Anonymous asked: do romantic relationships happen at tasp?
Honestly, this just shouldn’t be one of the worries you have when you try and imagine a TASP. It’s kind of a removed concern in the grand-scheme of what the program aims to be.
I’ll start with what the official website says: Seminars, lectures, pubspeaks (speeches by your fellow TASPers), community meetings, and a wide range of other group activities depend on the full participation of every member of the TASP. [And the] element of self-government is an essential part of the TASP experience.
Romantic relationships get in the way of fully appreciating the program for what it is. For this reason, all exclusive relationships are very clearly frowned upon during TASP. And “exclusive relationship” means just what you think: any kind of friendship or relationship that involves two or however many people consistently spending time with each other at the expense of engaging with the whole of TASP.
So in a perfect TASP, romantic relationships and exclusive cliques don’t happen. People —and 16-17 year olds especially— aren’t perfect. If things happen, they do —though I can’t emphasize enough how much this concern/thought/question can get in the way of fully taking from TASP what you should.
My best response to this is: don’t worry about it. Apply, enjoy the process, and if you get in and go to a TASP, appreciate how special it is. It’s a beautiful experience and to anticipate anything is to put a speed-bump in the whole process of how the program can and should change you.
Also: they afford you the luxury of not knowing your fellow TASPers. The internet keeps making it impossible to not already have some opinions formed on people before you meet them at school or work. TASP puts everyone on equal footing. Treasure it.
