Sophomore retreat leaders had a unanimous goal to create fun activities that would bring their class closer. The nine sophomores feel  they achieved that, but in the few short weeks before the October 4th retreat at Mater Dolorosa, sophomore retreat leaders say struggled to complete their itinerary. 

The group felt that the root of their issue was scheduling.

“The editing stage was the most difficult. We only had six weeks to plan, so decisions had to be finalized quickly,” said Kelly Yasko ‘22.

“What takes the most time is discussing specific activities we wanted to remove,” said Mia Maalouf ‘22 the leadership group based decisions on their past experience as participants. “We wanted to keep everyone lively and entertaining, and sometimes things like meditation or group discussions don’t align with that.” 

Overall, the nine sophomores believed they succeeded in creating a great experience for their classmates. Despite the timing challenges and planning difficulties, it was a great relief to go home exhausted that Friday afternoon. 

When asked about her retreat experience, Amy Baum ’22  gave a positive response. “I really enjoyed being able to get to know my classmates more. The retreat made me realize that everyone is going through their own journey and we need to support each other.”