Praying, meditating, and all things religious. That is what a retreat is all about, right? Well, not exactly. Jesuit’s retreats focus on uniting each individual class into a strong , structured community in addition to helping students grow closer to God. On Wednesday, April 24, a day of fun activities, insightful talks, and bonding experiences highlighted the day’s events for the sophomore class of 2015 on their annual retreat.
Starting at an early 7:40 AM, the sophomore students and teachers gathered around their designated bus to kick off the day. After driving about an hour to a secret location the sophomores cannot divulge, they finally arrived at their destination where they would spend the rest of their day. No time was wasted by the retreat crew that morning as a small band of our very own students entertained the 260+ tired sophomore students as they entered. Saxophones, clarinets, guitars, and other instruments were played as a precedent of what this day was going to be like.
Sure enough, as soon as they were all seated, Mr.Williams, one of the sophomore counselors, indicated that the music would be large part of the day, saying that “before each presenter a certain song will be played to prepare us for the speech.” After introductions and welcomes, the day began.
To start off, exciting and bonding activities were played in small groups to help the sophomores get comfortable with one another. For example, the first
game, the wagon wheel, was a game where 4 students, who all sat back-to-back, faced 4 other students on the outside so each person on the inside had someone else facing them. The moderator on the megaphone would say something to ask or talk about with the person facing you, and when finished, the wheel would “turn” so that people rotated to talk with a new person. Sophomore Aviel Samuel found the activity very interesting, stating that “it was a cool activity. We got learn new things about our classmates and play an interesting game at the same time.” Another sophomore, Peyton Arenson, said that “it was an interesting way to get us interacting. [I] never would have thought of it.”
After a few speeches, small groups got together to draw a superhero that modeled the sophomore class and its qualities as a whole. Each group’s picture being different, the depicted superheroes demonstrated creativity and uniqueness from the students as they attempted to outline their class’s positive and negative attributes. Sophomore Jack Hazzard found this to be “[his] favorite activity” because “[he] loves to draw and express [himself].”
The events then shifted from speeches and games to lunch and free time. Enjoyed by many students, this time, according to Dylan Yhap ’15, was “debatably the best part of the day because of the great food and soccer afterwards.” Following lunch, interesting activities continued, including some spectacular performances and speeches by students. One performer, guitarist Michael White ’15, enjoyed the chance to play, adding that “[he] loved the opportunity to play for the class and [he] would love to be able to do it again.” Sophomore Dylan Roberts added that his experience playing the guitar “was cool because I could play some music with my friends for all of our classmates.”
After a short prayer service and closing events, the retreat events were over. Filled with many games, speeches, and reflections, the sophomore retreat was truly an intense experience for the class of 2015.
