Heungkook Stephens. Before coming to NGA, I felt that nothing in my life was that challenging or that difficult. At that point, most of my life was high school, family, and extracurricular activities, and it was very easy for me to get by on just what came naturally to me without much effort. I could simply just kind of exist and it was enough to get by. I got good grades, I got along with teachers, I had a good amount of friends, if something was difficult I could easily just put in a little more effort or just avoid the situation most of the time. Nothing was really so hard that it really pushed me to become a bigger person.
NGA for me has been full of opportunities to see what I’m capable of. It has been an opportunity to raise the bar for myself, revealing how much more awesome I can be. On my year, I was challenged to create an international service project in Bangladesh with nothing but an email address to start with, I was challenged to raise money for my own projects, I was challenged to not only take ownership over my own life experiences, but also lead the experiences for a whole team of people as well. I look back on what I was able to do, and all I can say is, “wow, I can do that? What else can I do?” I move forward with the knowledge that I have stretched myself and overcome, and I like how it feels.
I’ve also come to understand what my heart is capable of as well. On NGA, I’ve developed a love for all types of people, from people I meet on the street, to people I meet in other countries, to even people who I initially couldn’t stand to be with. I’ve come to a point in my life where I want to help someone simply because I love them, and that’s it. No expectation of a reward like something to write on a resume, or even something to build a good reputation, I want to do it because I sincerely care. That has been a liberating experience.
These days, I just feel more alive because I’ve experienced what it feels like to be a better version of myself. I’m living with the knowledge that I am capable of so much, including accomplishing and living out my dreams. I feel like I am part of a great story, my story that is full of twists and turns, adventures, and awesome victories. I’m confident now that the person who I am has the absolute potential to make the world a better place, make the people around me feel loved, and to continue growing myself in every moment.
July 31'09

Michael Perkins
The vision of NGA is to create young people who can live their dreams; who can do what they want to do because they believe that anything is possible, because anything is possible. If you believe it can happen, you can do it, and that’s really what we’re following. That’s what we’re trying to live up to.

Sam Roberts
NGA is basically 30 students who graduated high school, or are in college right now, and what we do is we spend a whole entire year of our lives… Pretty much, we dedicate it to volunteer work. That’s what we do both in our community, which is in the Seattle area, and also overseas.

Ana Reid
The vision of the NextGen Academy is to challenge and empower the youth to create lives of authenticity, abundance, and altruism. Within this program, I’ve really been able to challenge what it means to serve other people - what it means to have a life lived for the sake of others.

Audrey Martin
“NGA presented me with a door and gave me the option of opening it. I have had to take responsibility— take ownership—and reach for that doorknob to fling it open and embrace my faith. There have been so many instances in which I took a leap off my ledge of comfort and experienced a freefall into vulnerability. But in that instant of complete surrender I found that I did not have to give up or give in. I could fly.”

Lily Jones
“One of the greatest things about NGA is not what you’re taught, but what you discover through experience and prayer, difficulties and victories, and most of all questioning everything. Everyone here on NGA is having their own unique experience, paving their own path, but always united in love and support. Once I was able to let my guard down and open my heart, be myself, I developed powerful bonds with all the members and with that, I could get though anything. It is impossible to say exactly what one goes though here on NGA. All I can say is, to know it, you must live it, and here, I’ve never felt so alive.”

Joyce Payer
“To experience NGA is to experience the true meaning of the term “ownership.” If nothing else, I have learned that my life is what I make it. I can choose to take ownership over it, to take advantage of this amazing environment, push myself to the limit, and let myself grow to my fullest potential, or I can merely take the experience at face value. Either way, I’m bound to make memories… but why not go all out? NGA is an once-in-a-lifetime, roller coaster of emotions and adventures that will always be with me in my life.”

Teddy Sylte
“NGA for me has been like a group of crazy kids living together, struggling together, doing insane stuff together and not really knowing where we're going half the time. But we have a blast, and grow in our relationships with each other and God. Good deal. And the end product for me has been being able to take my spiritual life to every aspect of life. For example, we aren't just on the "front line" of fundraising, but we are also close to the real front line: our daily life. To keep a life of faith in spite of all the crazy things in daily life is hard. We all know it is. But now I have the confidence that I don't need something like NGA or a workshop to grow. Because I am my spiritual life.”

Hannah Boyd
“I learned the importance of plunging myself into the unknown, doing what is the scariest, all for the sake of growing, maturing, and becoming closer to our Heavenly Father. I’ve grown and changed on NGA as much as one would in a lifetime. My thoughts on life have been challenged and redefined. I am a new person.”

Manae Pisano
“NGA absolutely is helping me in my quest for truth and balance. They guide the discovery and deepening of my own faith through fundraising, team endeavors, and youth workshops. All the while helping me gain leadership experience, business skills, as well as global/international awareness through service and philanthropy. Simply NGA is not a program that will change me but a tool to help me change myself and become the true, divine and amazing person I want to become.”

 

Joyce Payer
"The average student, upon graduating from high school, is generally faced with one of two options: find a job or prepare for a career by continuing on in academia and attending college. While attaining a degree or some other form of higher education is often encouraged, neither option is fool proof. Merely moving on to college does not imply success. Many students have little idea what direction they wish to take their lives, and while some eventually do graduate and go on to successful careers, an even greater number either drop out or graduate without a plan for the future. Too many people are sent off into the world without a clear concept of who they are or what skills are needed to become a productive member of society. With such underwhelming success, one wonders if academic education alone should be the recommended path for today’s youth or if more emphasis should be put on experiential learning."
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Bangladesh
"I'm learning so much and gaining so much confidence and learning the truth about how to move people, it's often and almost never what you say, it's about your heart, energy, and relationship with the people. I'm not sure how much I can teach them through these sessions, but if I can create a pure heart and get them to see that, I can really help move them.

-Heungkook Stephens

India
"How often is it that three 19 year old women are given the opportunity
to test their limits, broaden their minds, and truly share their heart with
the world by leaving the comforts of a life they know and stepping into
a world so unfamiliar to their own? How often is it that individuals so
young would even care to take on such an adventure?...We are not
going to another country to hold a few workshops and go sightseeing.
We are going to set a foundation for something much greater than
ourselves, something that will not only leave a lasting imprint on India,
but within ourselves as well."

-Lisa DeGoede, Lily Jones, Joyce Payer

Uganda
“I felt so embraced by the Ugandan people it was difficult to leave. They have a real desire to bring true peace and prosperity to their people and eager to learn the tools to do so. It is such an amazing feeling knowing that not only did I bring the people of Uganda joy and hope for those few days, but the true reward is knowing that even after I have left, through the ‘Train the Trainer’ workshops they are able to continue to reach out to the youth spreading the message of respect, unity, peace.”

-Laura Hinkle

Kenya
"My experience in Kenya was absolutely incredible. I was so moved by the heart of the people I met there, they were so sincere and so willing to share the things that were deepest to them. I was so grateful for the opportunity that the character education workshop gave me, an opportunity to make true connections with people in a way that made me better understand the culture, better understand the people, better understand the world and better understand myself.

-Tesia Bobrycki