For many students, retreats are an opportunity to step away from daily routines and connect with others on a deeper level. For Roncalli junior Hayden Bauman, attending his first retreat was a chance to both experience something new and strengthen friendships.
“My lack of going on retreats fueled my desire to go on one,” Bauman said. “My friends going as well as my lack of ever having a retreat experience made the decision of going on junior retreat an easy one.”
Teachers Mrs. Brittany Moran and Miss Regan Happe, who help lead the retreat, have seen firsthand how students benefit from the experience. While the junior retreat is shorter than others, it still provides meaningful moments for students to reflect on their faith and bond with others.
“I think in small ways,” Happe said when asked about changes in students before and after the retreat. “Junior retreat really just provides an extra encouragement for students… It’s more like giving them one day to relax, refresh, reflect on God.”
One of the biggest draws of the retreat is the chance to meet new people and strengthen existing friendships.
“They’re randomly paired up, which helps,” Moran said. “If nothing else, it helps to strengthen some of those friendships because they’re talking about deeper stuff. It’s not just surface-level things.”
Bauman is excited for that very opportunity.
“I am looking forward to getting to know people I have not had the pleasure of meeting and talking to before,” he said.
For students considering attending a future retreat, Moran has simple advice:
“Go see what it’s about. What’s the worst that can happen?”
