Why Focus One?
It's our passion see young adults refuse to meander through life waiting for someone else to give them an opportunity. It’s our desire to see young adults live their lives on mission with intentionality. Focus One is a gap year program that accomplishes that by positioning them for success in 4 key areas.
Spiritual disciplines, personal responsibility, healthy relationships, and the discovery of strengths and purpose.
First, spiritual disciplines. We can motivate students with great programming, but we know that motivation only begins journey. Habits take it from there. We may know about prayer or reading God’s word. But many times, it can be disjointed pockets of fervor. What if, instead, we had a relationship habit with our God? I think that our common experience is that those who develop these spiritual disciplines are the ones that grow deep in God over the long term.
Next, personal responsibility. See, one person's irresponsibility will always become someone else’s responsibility. So the dirty dish becomes mom’s problem. My bad attitude becomes your fault and so on. What we call maturity is simply an recognition of personal responsibility. I’m responsible for my actions, my attitudes and my life. I won’t be held accountable for what you do, but I will be accountable for my response to what you do. The great thing is that this isn’t about consequence avoidance. When we realize that we really do reap what we sow, we begin to invest different things into our lives and those we love.
Which brings us to healthy relationships. We intuitively know the power of relationships to direct the course of our lives. Even when my daughter was entering kindergarden I remember praying the same thing you may have prayed as you or someone you knew entered into a new environment, “God, help her to connect with the right friends.” We know that few things will shape lives more than those we call friends. What we have seen happen over the past twenty years is that many of the relationships you will build during a year of Focus One will last a lifetime.
Lastly, discovery of strengths and purpose. We cannot promise a clear direction for your life. That’s in God’s hand and God’s timing. For those of us that are older, how many of us could say that at 18, you knew exactly where and how God was going to guide your life? Many times, the best we can do is listen to what God is saying is the next right step and obey. What we can do through Focus, however, is to help you discover how God made you. Through personality and gifts test, 360 degree evaluations and exposure to a wide variety of environments, you’ll begin to see your unique God given DNA rise to the surface which will help you to navigate what future options make sense.
If you are or someone you know is a young adult, I want to challenge you to consider Focus One. If you have any questions, our admissions team is here to journey with you. We are passionate about Focus, but our ultimate goal is to help you land where God would want you in the fall. Whether that’s Focus, Higher ed, or an internship, we’d love to partner with you to pray for God’s very best to become clear.
God bless and go make a difference in your world.