The Especially For Youth program continues to welcome thousands of students every year, 50 years after its founding.
Ron Hill and other BYU employees developed the EFY program in the mid-1970s to “create an Education Week for teenagers where youth could interact with other young people from various places in the country.” The first session was held in 1976.
The first session only attracted 172 participants, fewer than the expected 500. Despite this, the very first EFY commenced.
The program only continued to grow from that point. In 1980, over 3,600 participants participated in the five EFY sessions held that year in Provo and San Diego. By 2019, more than 900,000 youth had participated in EFY.
That same year, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that they would start holding FSY Conferences, bringing an end to the traditional EFY program.
However, BYU continues to offer EFY Special Editions in various historical Church sites. This includes locations in Nauvoo as well as other experiences like EFY Adventure for Youth, EFY Habits for Life, EFY Mission Ready and EFY Express sessions.
Skyler Wilcox, the senior administrator for EFY, said he didn't always feel like he fit into the program.
“I love the spiritual aspect, but trying to get out of yourself and make friends and stuff was really difficult,” Wilcox said.
It was not until after he got home from his mission that he began to fall in love with the program.
“When I came home from my mission, somebody was like, 'Oh, you’d be an amazing EFY counselor,'” Wilcox said. “I was like, 'Nah, I don't know. I don't think that'd be really a great fit for me.' But God loves to just keep reminding us of things that He wants us to do.”
After subsequent conversations, he applied to be an EFY counselor and got hired. From there, he fell in love with the program.
“I felt like I was at my best,” Wilcox said. “I was my best self every year that I got to work at EFY.”
What he said he has remembered most from being a counselor was having one-on-one interactions with the youth, specifically those who are struggling.
“I remember one (youth) in particular who pulled me aside Friday at the end of the week, and he just said, 'I haven't told anybody this, but I've really been struggling with this issue, and this entire week I have just not felt that at all,'” Wilcox said.
The youth said he felt nothing but the love of the Savior.
From there, Wilcox worked for four years and then graduated from college. He found a job teaching seminary for three years.
Throughout that time, he continued to dream of a chance to work for EFY again.
That dream came true in February of 2020 when he was hired for a full-time position at the EFY program.
Aidan George has been an EFY counselor for two years. He said he has seen his testimony of Jesus Christ grow from his experience at EFY.
“It's been kind of this transitional period where I'm learning that the gospel of Jesus Christ applies to every aspect of my life,” George said. “It's what built the bridge between being set apart as a missionary and the reality that I live in now.”
The EFY program also helped George overcome his personal life struggles.
“I would not have been able to overcome without the confidence that I gained from the youth and my Savior through having a lot of the little experiences that I had throughout the summer,” George said.
Amanda Gardner, a first-time EFY counselor, felt inspired to work for EFY this summer.
Looking on social media, she saw a girl from her mission who had led EFY last summer.
“It caught my eye and it looked really fun, but I didn't really think a lot about it until a while later,” Gardner said. “I was in the temple and having a really powerful spiritual moment, and I felt impressed to look into EFY a little bit more.”
She looked into the application and applied to be a counselor. After an interview, she got the job.
“As I looked more into the program, it seemed like it would be a really powerful experience to be able to have fun while also helping others come closer to Christ,” Gardner said.
George, Gardner and Wilcox each reflected on their thoughts on the 50th anniversary of EFY.
“To me, it is a testimony that the Lord is working with this program,” George said.
Gardner said that it is amazing to her that the gospel has grown in such a way that "we can have FSY and EFY."
"God is looking out for the rising generation in that way, and He's giving them opportunities to strengthen their faith in Christ," she said.
Wilcox said that there are not a lot of programs that can say they are getting a 50th anniversary celebration. He noted how EFY has continued to run sessions even after the Church announced FSY would replace traditional EFY.
He has also made relationships at EFY both as a counselor and a coordinator that have lasted to this day.
“I met my wife through EFY, and so we're both EFY through and through," Wilcox said. "Our family has come together because we met at EFY."
To celebrate the 50th anniversary, the EFY program collaborated with past EFY album singers to create the 2025 theme song, "Rejoice Together."
They are also planning a reunion on Sept. 13 in Provo for anyone who has ever worked in the EFY program. Session directors, counselors, speakers, coordinators and other positions are invited to come and rekindle old memories and inspire new generations.
Wilcox said that the future of EFY is bright.
“We're trying to make the experience for youth even better than it was last year,” he said. "We're trying to make sure that our staff feel even more prepared than they did last year, and that kind of mentality gets me excited every year.”
Wilcox shared that the EFY program is ultimately trying to help people come closer to the Savior Jesus Christ, prepare for his second coming and have a better understanding of his restored gospel.
