Friday, November 6, 2015 was the class of 2018’s Sophomore Retreat. Students arrived at West Campus donning green and yellow t-shirts with the slogan “I’ve got your back” on the back. Students, upon arriving, were sorted into numbered groups. .
The day began in small groups. As students began to enter, beach balls were tossed around with “get-to-know-you” questions written on them. Whichever question your thumb landed on was the question you had to answer.
Students then moved to the bleachers for a presentation on respect. Counselor Denise Klemm shared her experiences with bullying from when she was a child. Mr. Matthew Talkin gave a presentation on self-image. He emphasized how companies try to sell us their products by making us feel like we aren’t perfect and how photoshop is used to make models look more perfect than is attainable. They tell us to strive toward an unrealistic goal. He showed statistics on the amount of people who have eating disorders and self-image problems and how we can help.
The small groups resumed and in an activity designed to emphasize that it’s what on the inside that matters most, each student was given a brown paper bag. We were to draw how we thought others saw us on the bag. We then were given three cards. The yellow card was our happiest moment. We shared those. The blue cards were our saddest moment. These cards were not shared. Green cards were where we saw ourselves ten years in the future. These were also shared.
Students were then split up into boys and girls to talk about relationships. Each student had written a question in their theology class, anything that they had always wanted to ask someone of the opposite gender. These questions were then looked through and the best ones were chosen to be asked. Mrs. Klemm and Mrs. Linda Johnston talked to the girls. “Why do you always go for the ‘bad boys’?” and “Does it matter if the boy goes to church?” were among the questions asked. “It depends” was the answer for almost every question. The boys were also asked questions. Sophomore Noah Lawrence provided some examples from their discussion. “Why are you more sentimental over text?” and “What do you look for in a girl?” were asked. “It’s easier because you don’t have to see them face to face,” and “A girl has to be confident,” were some answers.
After a lunch of sandwiches and chips, students were sent to the gym for a presentation on different relationships. Juniors Sharky Martin and Brad Goldasich gave a presentation on friendship. Senior Tommy Johnston and his sisters, Juniors Gabrielle and Sabrina, gave a presentation on family. Sr. Linda Mary told us three stories about her experiences with faith.
We then gathered on the floor of the gym. An activity dubbed “Cross the Line” ensued. “Cross the line if…” was read multiple times followed by anything, from personal experiences to collective experiences. “Look at the people who crossed the line. Look at those who didn’t. Cross back over the line.” This activity was flooded with emotion and tears were flowing.
After this, we gathered our brown paper bags again and took out our blue cards. We went outside where Mr. Phil Seck burned them as a symbol of letting go of the bad memories. We went back inside and drew outlines of our hands and signed them on pictures of the backs of our classmates. The day ended with prayer.
It was interesting and eye opening to see how everyone felt about each activity. The emotions and experiences shared will continue forever.
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