The Freshman Retreat is a pivotal point of personal growth and team building for Jesuit’s newest students, the class of 2022. The new students were divided into groups of seven or eight with an upperclassman trained to lead the boys in spiritual, and team building, activities throughout the day. 
One of the main focuses for the retreat is building faith. Faith is reinforced in every aspect of the Jesuit culture, though it seems that a Jesuit student’s faith is ever growing. According to freshman Briggs Uskovich, the retreat “deepened my faith more than I thought possible for one day.” From mass to writing letters to God, the freshman retreat gives every new student an outlet with which to interact with God.
The team building exercises were a favorite activity among many of the freshmen. One of the most popular activities was the partner blindfold exercise, in which the freshmen were paired together to complete an obstacle course, with the challenge that one of them remained blindfolded. The blindfolded partner has to place full trust in his guide, who is only allowed to say commands, in order to successfully complete the course. According to freshman Carter Trupiano, he was able to make many new friends and “bond with them through the trust games”.
“It was great to go on the freshman retreat. It was the first step on my four-year journey to connect with my future brothers,” said freshman Mason Lee. The events come together in order to immerse new students into Jesuit’s faith-filled culture. Additionally, they see themselves enriching their relationships with the other boys in the class of 2022 and learning what it truly means to be a man for others. With that introductory step out of the way, “The Journey Begins”.
