Hailyn Nicole

My name is Nicole, but my friends call me Nico. I live south of the capital of Costa Rica with my mother and sister in an apartment. My parents have always shown love towards me even though they divorced, which left me with several emotional consequences. My mother’s home was relatively strict. I was referred to as the “example to follow” in my family, a position that I felt restricted my development and was counter to what I wanted or desired as a girl. An added challenge was living in two completely different homes, with different rules and lives; it was like having two opposing sides that did not allow me to fully develop into myself, particularly restricting my extroverted personality.

I heard about Jesus for the first time at age ten, but when I was fourteen, I accepted Him in a very close way at Young Life camp. Since then, my spiritual life has had ups and downs, but I find great comfort knowing He is always leading me by the hand. As a volunteer leader in Young Life, I am pursuing teenagers just like me in my community. While being used by God to love on them, I myself, am being transformed by His divine love.

As a Developing Global Leader, I plan to complete my bachelor's degree at International University of the Americas and become an English teacher. I have always loved the English language and my dream goes hand in hand with my ministry with Young Life. My dream is to be able to connect with young people and one day hope to be on Young Life Staff.