Anonymous asked: do romantic relationships happen at tasp?
If you’re smart enough to want to go to a TASP, you know that the answer to this is simple: yes.
Don’t worry about them happening or not, or in what facet they can/do/will/won’t happen. My best advice (not that you asked for it) is give yourself fully to every conversation, game, text, person, paper, and activity at TASP. It’s that much more rewarding when you break out of the self you have set for yourself back home. Focusing on any one aspect of things can stop you from getting the most out of the experience.
The official website says that “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 that full participation, and so of course they aren’t “allowed.” All exclusive relationships are very clearly frowned upon during TASP —it doesn’t matter how harmlessly asexual it is. “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.
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. It’s always so much nicer when you’re taken by surprise at the way things fall into place (or don’t).
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.
I know I took it for granted.
