Dear friends,
There’s a quiet kind of reckoning happening in me.
It doesn’t come with fireworks or announcements. It comes with a slow hum. A restlessness. A deep sense that the way things used to work… just doesn’t anymore.
That’s the space I found myself in last week—surrounded by nearly a thousand changemakers from around the world at the Hearth Summit in Ljubljana, a well-being conference for leaders in the social impact and nonprofit space to remind to take of our well-being first and foremost before anything else. We weren’t there to network or optimize or fix. We were there to listen. To burn the masks. To sit in the discomfort of becoming.
One of the moments that stayed with me most happened in a workshop called Let Your Soul Sing: The Sacred Act of Singing as Self-Care, led by Bishop Chantel Wright, a gospel choir director that has performed alongside legends like Earth, Wind & Fire, Aretha Franklin, and Elton John.
We didn’t warm up. We didn’t overthink. We just… started singing.
Lord, I hear of show’rs of blessing
Thou art scatt’ring full and free,
Show’rs the thirsty land refreshing;
Let some drops now fall on me.Even me, even me,
Let some drops now fall on me.
And as we sang these lyrics, I felt something crack open.
The message wasn’t subtle: you are worthy of blessing. Even just a drop. Not because you’ve achieved enough, proved enough, or performed enough—but because you deserve it. You always have.
We closed the session in a full-voiced chorus of “This Little Light of Mine.” It was spontaneous, imperfect, and absolutely soul-cleansing. I hadn’t sung in a group like that since my college a cappella days, and I didn’t realize just how much I’d missed it.
🌏🎒 UWC Short Courses Are Here
This July, we welcome students from 20 countries to two transformative journeys:
Embodying Earth (June 30–July 12)
Our newest course, rooted in regenerative leadership, ecological healing, and interbeing invites young people to ask: What lies at the root of the climate crisis and how might I be of service?
Doing Good (July 13–23)
A returner, now in its second year, where students reflect on what it means to respond to the world’s hurt with presence and purpose.
Both are held in Vietnam. Both are full of questions. And both are being shaped by facilitators who aren’t afraid to ask for what they need—and to shine their light.
The summer is just starting. Keep up with us by following our socials!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/education-for-good-vn/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uwcshortcourses.educationforgood
Instagram: @uwcshortcourses.by.e4g
🌱 The Good Futures Fund
We continue to grow our scholarship fund with your support. If you believe in this work—if you believe that a young person with a fire in their belly shouldn’t be turned away because of finances—please consider giving.
👉 Become a named donor this summer
👉 View donation tiers
🕊️ A Note on Becoming
At Hearth, someone said:
“If what you are visioning is something you can already do, you’re still operating in fear.”
That landed in my chest like a drum.
Because I do know how to build short courses. I know how to gather young people, ask good questions, and create space for transformation. But some visions—like building a school, or nurturing a longer arc of change—are still unfolding for me. I can feel them coming into focus, not all at once, but little by little, as I keep showing up to the work.
This season is asking more of me—and maybe of you too. To listen closely. To trust deeper. To let go of needing to have every step mapped out.
So maybe that’s where I’ll leave you this month:
With permission to ask for what you need.
With faith that even a drop of blessing is enough.
And with a reminder to let your light shine—not in performative ways, but in quiet, unruly, liberating ones.
In the way you rest.
In the way you say no.
In the way you sing.
In the way you be.
Let it shine.
With care,
Sam Jeong