"I'm not alone": Jessica's Ascend Story

Introduction

Dear Reader, I don’t like reading testimonials. I like to have my questions answered, get a practical view of whatever I’m looking into, and understand what this new experience will look like for me. Most testimonials I’ve read haven’t helped me in that sense. But if you’re thinking about joining Ascend, there are some things that I really want you to know.

My mission (now that I’ve accepted it) is to share what Ascend has looked like for me, and help you understand what it might look like for you…

If you want an overview of my biggest takeaways from my first Ascend year, do yourself a favor and skip to “My Biggest Takeaways” and the conclusion 😉

….But if you decide to stick around, I’ll tell you why I joined Ascend, what the first event was like, and why Ascend Teams are so important.

Why I Enrolled…

When I enrolled for Ascend, I was super broke, had no clue how I would pay for tuition and still have time for school, and I barely understood what I had signed up for.

I knew that God was guiding me towards enrolling, but I was so scared– scared that I wouldn’t make enough to cover tuition, scared that people would think I was crazy, scared that I wouldn’t be smart enough to do my homework well, and so much more.

“So, why did you even enroll?!?”

It’s simple, I joined because my mom told me I was coasting– and she was right.

My family had just moved back to our hometown and I had a part time job, but I wasn’t learning, growing, or getting out of my comfort zone. I was just existing with nothing to work towards. Not a good place to be mentally, physically, emotionally, or spiritually. All around, no bueno.

Long story short, my mom and I worked our butts of cleaning houses to cover my first couple payments until God miraculously gave me a full time job that covered my tuition.

The month before I got my full time job was altogether frustrating, exhausting, and hard– but it was 100% worth it. Why? Because my biggest takeaways from this Ascend year were worth the effort…but we’ll go over those takeaways later.

APEX

A week after starting my new job, I went to my first Ascend event– APEX.

I legitimately had no clue what to expect.

I wasn’t joking when I said I didn’t really know what I signed up for. All I knew was that God wanted me to enroll, so I did. Hopefully, after reading this, you’ll have a better picture of Ascend than I did when I started.

I showed up in South Carolina and people poured out of the buses. The camp we stayed at was BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL and I got so excited. I got my name tag and walked over to the opening session.

Listen, as a 20 year old that just wants to live her life for Jesus, becoming an adult has been scary and hard. I wish I could explain what happened inside of me when they played the opening video for APEX, but it’s too powerful for words. The whole event was put together by students, people like me, people who understood how frustrating life can be, but still wanted to live well. At that moment, I knew I was in a room with people who could relate to me. Fun fact: the power of realizing you aren’t alone can move mountains.

The week was filled with fun activities, team bonding (more on that later), and speakers that rocked my world. The best part is, IT WAS PRACTICAL!!! By the end of APEX, everyone had notebooks filled with ink and a billion things that they wanted to start doing when they got home– but we can’t do a billion things.

So, right before we left, we were asked to split into groups, share our key takeaway, and decide how we would implement that one thing into our lives. When I went home, instead of feeling overwhelmed by everything I learned, I focused on my one thing– and guess what? When I met with my team at the next event, Basecamp, I had made actual progress in my one thing. Practical, personal, and encouraging– that’s what Ascend has been for me.

Ascend Teams

Another big part of Ascend are the teams! So, if you couldn’t tell from the paragraph title, this is the part where I give you the inside scoop on my team experience.

Like I’ve said before, I didn’t know what to expect. All I knew was that I was assigned to a team and I’d be hopping on a team call with them every month. Boy, is an Ascend team a whole lot more than that!

At the beginning of APEX, the people on my team were practically strangers, but by the end, we were praying for each other, sharing our struggles, and helping each other process what we learned throughout the week– but that’s not even the best part.

My favorite thing about being on a team is working on things together!! Be it running through an obstacle course in the forest together, writing a children’s book, sending encouraging letters to a church in South America, or using moss and sticks to try and preserve our team’s water balloon (to no avail)– I love doing things with my team!

If you think that sounds cool, there’s more!

All the teams are diverse, with different personalities, backgrounds, and members who are in different years of Ascend. I’ve never been on a team like this before. Sometimes, I’d get nervous and wonder, can a group of diverse, excited people work together even when they have different opinions, ideas, or methods of doing things?

Well, the coolest thing by far has been to see that we can, in fact, work together, contribute our strengths, and support each other. We make a great team, and it’s because we’re all so different! It’s a great experience to be on a team with people who think differently than I do and see how much we can accomplish when we work together!

My Biggest Takeaways

If you jumped here from the introduction, all I really said is that Ascend has been worth my while, reminded me that I’m not alone, and is teaching me what it’s like to be a part of a team– but that’s not all I’ve learned.

I’ve learned the most from Navigate and the Leadership course, so here’s a little peek…

Through the Leadership course, I’ve learned:

Everyone is a leader and how to be a godly one
Work is a good thing
What gifts God has given me and how He wants me to start using them
How to develop practical goals for myself
I don’t have to submit to fear of failure

Finally, in every module, I’ve been reminded that Christ is truly at the center of everything, and my relationship with Him is of utmost importance.

Through Navigate, I’ve learned:

Asking good questions in more important than getting answers
Movement is better than perfection
I don’t have to have life all figured out (which takes off a lot of unnecessary pressure and stress)
What my life’s purpose is (spoiler: it’s to know God– shocking right?!)
How to reflect on my past experiences, which enables me to make good decisions as I move forward

Again, the most important theme of every module was this: no matter what decisions I face or what life may throw at me, the thing I should keep my focus on will always be Christ– and that’s a priceless thing to be hearing as a young adult.

All this, and I haven’t even touched on what I’ve learned through my specialty track, team calls, Ascend webinars, and in person events.

Conclusion

As I wrap up, I want to say that God is so very good. God has many ways of teaching those He loves, and He teaches a lot through Ascend. Through Ascend, by God’s grace, I am finally pursing my giftings, I’m less afraid, I’m more excited about life, I’m better at time management, I’m more disciplined, I’m a better sister and employee, I’m more willing to do hard things, I’m surrendering more to the Lord, trusting God more than I did before, giving myself more grace, and learning that I’m not perfect, and that’s perfectly fine.

So, that’s my story! I hope it was helpful at giving you a glimpse of what Ascend has been like for me and that it gave you an idea of what it might look like for you.

Now, don’t go thinking any of this growth was easy. It’s been hard to learn these things, but I’ve never once been alone, and I’m more free because of it.

Ascend may not be for everyone, but if this is the way God chooses to teach you, I think you’ll love it just as much as I do!

Want to learn more about Ascend and see if it’s the right fit for your student? Schedule a call with the Unbound team today!

Jessica Santacruz