By JESS BERKUN

I fully believe I have, in my time with iBme, learned how to be human, how to navigate relationships and pain, how to communicate, how to listen, and how to love. It’s life school.

The retreat experience can really be transformed to fit you; you can socialize and make friends, you can read or write at any available time, you can get to know teachers, you can go on hikes, etc.

On my very first retreat, I was really really scared because I saw a lot of people talking to each other who already knew each other and my social anxiety at the time was awful. I started crying and I almost left because I was so scared. I ended up talking to a teacher and going on a walk with her, and she was kind enough that I felt alright to stay. Later that night a teacher let me use their phone to text my mother that I was ok, even though usually phones aren’t allowed. By the end of retreat, I was comfortable and had made friends of my own, but even if that didn’t happen, I knew I’d be supported, accepted, and loved.

If you are looking for somewhere to find faith, somewhere to find some kind of love for humanity, this is the place. I found so much hope and love here that really do not seem to exist in other spaces in our world. As a teenager, this is one of the first places I felt fully accepted in my own skin, and I felt free to exist as I am and not try to change anything. It’s the first place I heard the phrase, “I love you; keep going.” I offer that phrase to you now, if you find it to be helpful, from an internet stranger. Thanks so much for reading what I have to say.