Discovering the Real Me: Character Education

Carrying out its mission to challenge and empower the next generation to create lives of authenticity, abundance, and altruism, the US-based NextGen Academy sent students to five Asian countries in the spring of 2008 to serve as interns in UPF's Character Education Initiative.

Team Thailand stayed in the country the work began and ended. Interns Hannah Boyd, Jacob Shaw, and Justin Frisk worked in Songkla in the south of Thailand where they taught character education at an orphanage for children who had lost their parents or been displaced by war. The orphanage is in a safe area away from the conflict.

Hannah, in particular, was moved by the beauty of the area. In spite of missing their compatriots and looking forward to the day when the teams would reunite in Thailand before returning to the United States, this team reported that they were "loving every moment" of their service to the wonderful land of "The King and I" fame.