Bergen County... the home of Garden State Plaza, Korean restaurants in Palisades Park, huge houses in Alpine and Englewood Cliffs... and the headquarters of Asian Young Life.

Welcome! We've designed this website for our high school friends in Bergen County. We know that life can be stressful for Asian kids here in New Jersey's most populated county... you've got to get good grades, get into a good college, study for SATs, take violin lessons, play tennis... We know the routine. But amidst all the pressure, there's also AYL, a group where you can relax with friends, be yourself, and discover life the way it was meant to be.

We hope you find this website helpful as you get to know us better. We encourage you to explore the links in the blue menu to the left. That way you can learn about what we do in Asian Young Life and how you can be a part of it all.

• If you're not quite sure where to start, try clicking on the link for Photos. It's been said that "a picture is worth a thousand words," so we'll let the pictures do the talking.


• Unless you've been living in a cave, you have probably heard at least some of your friends talk about Asian Young Life camp. And they probably used words like "unbelievable," "amazing," and "awesome" to describe what they experienced. See how you too could experience the best week of your life by checking out our Camp page.


• Oh, and if you'd like to meet the people who make this happen, be sure to visit the Meet Our Leaders page.

There are no "memberships" in AYL... You pretty much "just show up." If you're totally new to AYL, the best place to "show up" for your first time is definitely club, which is held once every two months or so on Saturday nights in Teaneck. Our club meetings run from 6:30 to 9:00 PM and are open to any Bergen County high school student in grades 9 through 12.

Many people ask, "What is club?" Our response is typically, "You just have to see for yourself," but trust us when we say that it is really fun and unlike anything you are probably expecting. You can always count on there being free food, awesome games, insane prizes, and an inspiring message, but beyond that, it's anyone's guess. And even if for some reason you don't have any fun, you'll still get to meet tons of other Asian American teenagers from all over Bergen County, which we think is pretty cool. Our largest club to date took place on December 1, 2007, when more than 140 high school kids showed up. You can visit our club page to see when and where our next club will be taking place. We'd love to have you join us.

AYL draws a lot of kids from the Academies@Englewood and from Cresskill High School, and we are becoming increasingly popular at Bergen County Academies, Fort Lee High School, and Paramus High School. If you go to one of these schools, you'll definitely know some of the people in AYL. And if you don't go to any of these schools, that's OK... You can be one of the lucky trailblazers from your school who gets to experience AYL first.

Asian Young Life is a Christian organization committed to making a difference in the lives of Asian American teenagers. We are funded by individuals, churches, and businesses in northern New Jersey that want to help Asian kids like you experience life in a whole new way. All of our leaders are adults in the community who care about Asian kids and who are committed to serving teens as mentors. It's not uncommon to find our leaders helping Asian kids review for the SAT or assisting them with their calculus homework or even coaching them in cross country running... for free! (We don't know too many hakwons that can compare with what our leaders do!)

If you have more questions about who we are and what we do, you (or your parents) should check out our Parents and Adults section, which should answer most of your questions. If you still have unanswered questions, then please contact us. We're interested in what you have to say.

Have fun clicking around our website... and welcome!