This past Wednesday, April 4th, 2012, Jesuit juniors embarked on the time-honored tradition of going on the Junior Retreat, an event which many consider to be the highlight of their junior year.
The day contained several bonding exercises and other activities- led by members of PALS- that focus on their future leadership roles as seniors at Jesuit.
In one such activity, according to junior counselor Paul McDaniel, juniors got to discuss issues that are important for the coming year, discussions that, as McDaniel has observed, take unpredictable turns, deviating far from the teacher’s intended course in a good way.
In addition to the discussions, music was performed by student bands and speeches were given by teachers and members of the Jesuit community, favorite events of junior counselor Dan Lingel.
This year, for the first time in Jesuit Junior Retreat history, the banjo and flute debuted. Will Patterson ’13 on the banjo and harmonica, Dave Koenecke ’13 and Al Higgings ’13 on guitar, and junior counselor Mr. Lingel on the washboard jammed in their rendition of the Old Crow Medicine Show song “I Hear Them All.” And Michael Guzman ’13 also gave a nice flute solo in front of the whole junior class.
When asked his favorite events of the day, Michael Boone ’13 responded that he liked the “snack brackets,” brackets of different foods that the juniors then vote on to see which one is the favorite of the class.
Boone also said that the most important thing he got out of the retreat was that the juniors are “almost seniors and we need to claim their spot and be mature and be good role models for the underclassmen.”
The focal point of the day, however, was the Junior Cross Mass that took place at the end of the retreat.
At the liturgy, the juniors received their senior cross that is designed in the same style as several of the crosses throughout the school–a poignant moment in the mass for all counselors, teachers and parents.
Instituted in the late 80s, the Junior Cross Mass was started by Father Clyde LeBlanc, who designed the cross, and Father Dillon, who instituted it into the Mass.
This time-honored experience, Lingel remarks, “congratulates the juniors that they have gotten through 3 years of Jesuit, promotes class unity and helps to organize senior service days.” McDaniel also believes that the service is key to “understanding what Men for Others really means and to accepting the responsibility of being a leader at Jesuit.”
When asked if he would change anything about the Junior Retreat, Boone said that it felt like, compared to the Sophomore Retreat, the message was “watered down and that it could be made more meaningful. Chris Jans ’13 also remarked that there were “deeper subjects at sophomore retreat,” but senior Andy McCall, reflecting on his time at the junior retreat, disagreed with both of them, saying that the Junior Retreat was “much better than the sophomore retreat.”
All in all the general reaction was positive and the retreat surely left an indelible memory within the hearts of all.
