Meet Vanguards

Meet Recent Vanguards

Eva Hoskins

Henry Xuan

Jake Sandberg

Miika Forsyth '22

"I have at least one moment a day where I remember how different and incredible Vanguard is making my life in this season." 

Qian Lim '22

"I thought this year was going to be something I had to get over with. Now that I’m here, this is something that I don’t want to end."

Rachael Dickerson '22

"I was in awe reading about everything the Vanguards were able to do in just one year." 

Meet Vanguards from the 2020-2021 Cohort

meg wolfe takes photo in Ops Truck mirror
Meg Wolfe '21

I think all of the daily rhythms continue to help me refocus on God throughout the day. Whether it’s singing the doxology before lunch or coming together after dinner for evening prayer, it puts everything I do into a spiritual perspective. 

Isaiah Carlson '21

Reading my Bible has been super transformational for me. Journaling has also gone hand in hand with meditating on Scripture. Previously, I didn’t read my Bible as much as I would have liked to, so being soaked in God’s Word has been beneficial...

...I think the Fellows and grads have had a big impact—especially with the guy Fellows being able to help and guide me through tough times. The grads also provide a lot of insight and wisdom as they’re able to share what they are learning with Vanguards.

emil callaway vanguard 21
Emi Callaway '21

"I feel like classes and seminars have opened up my eyes to a lot of different things that I haven’t thought about before. High school is so different from what is taught here, as I never had religious related classes back home. Learning in a Christian environment at Vanguard has been overwhelmingly positive..."

Josiah Anderson '21

Being here has helped me rediscover the practice of reading a Psalm or Proverb every morning at random. It’s not formulaic, I just open my Bible and see what the Lord has to say to me that day.

vanguard kyra smiling with other vanguards
Kyra Johnson '21

What is your favorite part about living in the Northwoods?

The nature and being able to live in this community! You’re always on the go, but in the end, it’s nice to always have someone that has your back.

What Vanguard Alumni Have to Say:

Read the thoughts, ideas, and reflections on their year at HoneyRock from our Vanguards, below.

Lisa Heegaard, Vanguard '17, captured reflections and random moments from a few of our Vanguards as they reflected on their experience. Enjoy reading these interviews that share a peek into Vanguard!

vanguard adam hiking
Adam Kepke '17

Taking a break from school gave me the space I needed to decide to actually return to school when I didn’t think it was for me. I was able to take an intermission to just figure out if I wanted to go back and what I wanted to study. Since going back to college, I’ve discovered that once you know what you want to study, school becomes a lot easier and a lot more purposeful.

 

chan smiles at the camera
Chan Woo '18

The program is very intentional. With everything they do here – like the solos I talked about before – those helped with reflecting on where I’m coming from and where I want to go. The small and intentional community helped keep me accountable.

The program is just really well-crafted so that you’re put in a lot of different experiences. I mean, of course, it’s all up to you whether you want to take that step and be willing to improve and change. But the program definitely provides chances for you to see, reflect, and grow.

vanguard sarah lambert serving oranges and smiling
Sarah Lambert '16

What brought you to Vanguard?

...I had a really hard high school experience. Every week I went to youth group and was just like, I wish I could talk with someone about how I feel. For two years. I never felt like I was able to talk about it. So I thought, well, if I go and live in the woods for a year I’ll probably have to talk about it.

The idea of having a year that was focused on helping me understand what I was going through…it felt like it was all I wanted. It felt like a way to set myself up to work through a few things.

vanguard allie giving a big smile
Allie Lambert '19

I wanted to know what I believe in. I grew up going to church and everything. But you know, in high school I was like, I don’t know what I really believe. I had a lot of doubts. I didn’t know if I wanted to continue my Christian faith outside of my routine at home. I knew that I wasn’t fully involved with it.

I knew that I didn’t really have a relationship with God. If I went to college and wasn’t 100% sure of my faith, I knew that I would just drop it. It was important for me to figure it out.

 

vanguard brian welding
Brian Keller '19

it was exactly what I needed. I think Vanguard taught me how to care. For myself and for others. I was at a point where I didn’t really care about myself anymore. But the way it’s designed…you learn to love people you might not like. For most of my life, I had avoided that. It was like, if I didn’t like someone I wasn’t going to spend time with them. Therefore, I never learned how to love people who weren’t similar to me. But Vanguard forces you to be in community and when you’re that close, you begin to change.

 

vanguard chan eats at a cookout

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A Parent's Perspective on the Vanguard Gap Year