June 2016

YTI NEWSA sneak peek at an upcoming YTI scholar ...

Could you tel l us a bi t about your sel f?

My name is Heejae - but my prefer red name is Hannah. I 'm in 11th grade and I go to Mount Pisgah. I 'm nineteen years old.

I l ike music in general-- I l ike to play the f lute, the keyboard/piano, and I 'm in band, jazz band, and the drum l ine. I 'm also the co-leader of the business team in my robotics team.

I 'm an international student from South Korea. I moved here about four years ago and am home-staying w ith my aunt.

I grew up in a Chr istian fami ly. I str uggled a lot [w i th my fai th] in middle school. Al l my l i fe, I was going to church and they were talking to me about creation but at school I star ted learning about evolution. I t seemed that both of the church and school was teaching the "r ight" thing and that didn't seem to make sense. Dur ing that time of str uggle, I came to Amer ica.

Living in a countr y that is enti r ely di f ferent from my ow n whi le being away from my family was not easy. Then I r emembered how my mom and grandmother had always told me to pray in times of trouble. That's when I exper ienced God and about a year

later , I ful ly accepted Chr ist into my l i fe.

How did you hear about YTI?

I heard about YTI through my aunt because both of my cousins (Chr istina '10 and Jae Hoon '12) went.

And what m ade you inter ested i n applying?

I want to challenge my fai th more. I don't know how to say i t w i thout

being cheezy...

Ar e ther e any speci f i c quest i ons about fai th you 'r e i nter ested i n ex plor i ng?

Mmm... predestination. I know God has a plan for each one of us... but then does He know i f you'r e going to hel l or heaven from the beginning- from the moment you'r e born?

I also want to learn about divisions or denominations w ithin the church.

How about quest i ons about social j ust i ce?

I signed up for a class about immigrant and refugee l i fe. I myself am an immigrant but I don't know much about the perspective of other people from di f ferent par ts of the wor ld.

I also signed up for a class on sexuali ty. I 'm interested in the class because I feel that Chr istians are supposed to l ive a l i fe that's di f ferent than others-- than what the r est of the wor ld tel ls you to do... but i t seems that many Chr istians, especial ly in Amer ica, str uggle [w i th their understanding of sexuali ty].

What ar e you the m ost exci ted and/or ner vous about?

Well, f i r st off al l I 'l l be meeting many di f ferent people. That's always fun but intimidating.

I 'm especial ly interested in learning about di f ferent fai th systems. I know that I 'l l be okay, but I 'm a bi t afr aid that my fai th w i l l be

challenged or questioned.

Even though I go to a Chr istian school, I sti l l have to l ive a di f ferent l i fe than others--

because not ever yone is Chr istian or is as "strong" of a Chr istian. So, I also hope to

gain more confidence about my fai th [shar ing/talking about i t].

I was actually going to share a testimony at my school last semester , but I was r eally caught up in my

academics (APs, PSATs, etc.). I didn't have the time or the mindset to w r i te i t out, but I hope to have another chance to share this year.

I also signed up for my senior leadership class. Ever y year we go on a r etr eat cal led SharpTop Cove. Both the high schooler s and middle schooler s par ticipate and a few of the senior s become small group leaders of middle school groups. The

senior s get to be l ike mentor s. I want to be able to help make more "disciples of al l nations."

"I want t o be abl e t o hel p make mor e

discipl es of al l nat ions."

BECAUSE YOU GAVE:CROWDFUNDING LAUNCHES FOR 2016

In just a few days, the 2016 YTI Crowdfunding Campaign will kick-off alongside the Summer Academy! Last year exceeded all expectations raising over $12,000 including matching gif ts! We are excited to see where your generosity will take us this year. We are thril led and grateful for the three alumni challenge donors: Jermaine Freeman, Sara Toering, and Will Fairbourn ? all YTI Class of 1996 in honor of their 20 year YTI anniversary! Be on the lookout via email and social media for further details and the crowdfunding website, so you too can be involved in making YTI possible for a future scholar!

For questions regarding gif ts to YTI or the Crowdfunding Campaign, please contact Jessica McDaniel at jessica.mcdaniel@emory.edu

or 404.727.0058.

Do you have an update, a stor y, or a r ef lection to share? Was there an ar ticle that r esonated or challenged you? We want to hear from you!

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We work ver y hard to br ing together the most diver se community possible. This summer , we w i l l have 36 scholar s from 5 di f ferent countr ies, 10 di f ferent US states, 8 Chr istian denominations--including Catholic, Or thodox and Protestant, and several non-denominational Chr istian churches. In addition, we have scholar s who identi fy as Jew ish and Buddhist! We are a "major i ty minor i ty" group, w ith 44% US-born white scholar s and 56% scholar s of color. We are exci ted to gather as a microcosm of the wor ld, and celebrate the tr ue r ichness of the Body of Chr ist!

YTI 2016: BY THE NUMBERSmost diver se gr oup t o dat e!

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