When deciding on summer plans for your teen, be it youth group camp, sleep-away camp or day camp, how do you distinguish? When I was growing up, the experience was pretty much the same except for what I slept on and how many people were sharing the oxygen in the room. I also remember when 7UP came on the scene. If you grew up watching TV in the 80s, you would remember the commercials with the baritone voice of the island man saying, “It’s the Uncola, aaaaaah!” or “It’s Marvelous, absolutely marvelous.” We watched him drink the “cool and refreshing 7UP,” which was “never too sweet.” The “UN-COLA” ads distinguished 7UP from popular caramel-colored colas.

When it comes to summer choices for teens, iDENTIFY IMPACT’s leadership experience is seen by parents, students and mentors alike as “the UN-CAMP.” Words like impact and transformation are used to describe the difference.

Dr. Maritza Paz-Fernandez, parent of iDENTIFY alumni Sophia Paz, shared, “Sophia responds differently now. When she’s in a group, she takes ownership of her responses. I see her choosing to be responsible for who she is while taking steps toward who she can become. I just can’t recommend iDENTIFY enough! Teens go in as children and walk out leaders.”

Training “Tomorrow’s Leaders Today” is the main focus of iDENTIFY IMPACT. Founder Dr. Andrea Hazim, who affectionately calls her young leaders “TLT,” carefully created the iDENTIFY program from a deep desire to see young adults discover their identity and live with purpose at a young age. She shared, “Training and mentorship like this in my teens and 20s would have been life-changing!”

Statistics taken from 2018’s participant survey results reflected the dramatic impact on both teen students and college-age mentors:

Increased feelings of: Purpose 85%, Identity 78%, Faith 67%, Self-confidence 67%, Self-worth 55%

Increased ability to: be Vulnerable and Authentic 83%, Develop Deep Friendships 68%, Act as a Serving Leader 35%

Decreased feelings of: Loneliness 58%, Depression 55%, Anger 55%, Anxiety 53%, Unforgiveness 50%, Resistance 41%

Each day, of the seven-day/six-night leadership experience builds upon the next. Interactive workshops, paradigm-shifting sessions and experiential activities go into a carefully-designed curriculum focused on equipping students in a variety of areas such as discovering their identity and purpose, learning critical life skills, communication techniques, team building, conflict resolution and goal achievement. The iDENTIFY safe zone allows for massive paradigm shifts to take place in a short period of time. Facilitators, support staff and mentors lovingly provoke students to “Do Hard Things” and take an honest SELF-assessment at the way they show up in life.

iDENTIFY guest trainer Kelly Merbler, of the John Maxwell leadership team, commented on the quick response of TLT, “I don’t see these types of responses in the high-level corporate training world.” Often, second and third year students co-teach sessions such as DISC personality types, Five Love Languages, time management and others. It is impressive to see young leaders having summer fun engaging in personal development and participating in serving leadership projects. One such project is The Wisdom Keepers’ Series, which participants launched during iDENTIFY 2018. This special project centers on TLT gleaning wisdom during quality time face-to-face interviews with senior citizens, writing about their lives and publishing a compilation book entitled “Grey is the Original Google.”

This year, students can participate in the Elev8Life funding assistance program to help cover tuition. The US, Canada, and Puerto Rico are some of the places participants have traveled from. Grandparents also get involved by sending their grandchildren to iDENTIFY. K’Trina’s Auntie shared, “My niece from Atlanta was very hesitant about coming to camp, not knowing anyone or what to expect. But after having participated, she is eager to return again next year. It’s been a life-changing and transformational week for her and for us to see the changes in her. We’re very excited.

We all know young adults who could benefit from the iDENTIFY “UN-CAMP” training with far-reaching impact into their high school and college years, and beyond. Don’t let the young adults in your life miss a summer opportunity to become equipped as Tomorrow’s Leaders Today, confident in their God given identity and living with purpose.

To learn more about enrollment and funding assistance, visit www.iDENTIFYimpact.com Promo code available in this issue of the Good News.