A Day To Reflect: The Junior Retreat
It was a cold, crisp November morning when my classmates and I boarded the bus bound for St. Anselm’s in Tinton Falls for the Junior Retreat. Throughout the week, I certainly looked forward to it, as it was a break from school and a chance to meet new people while getting closer to my friends.
Once the buses arrived at St Anselm’s, we were greeted by a light breakfast, as well as a short, welcoming speech from Mr. Meehan. Mr. Frake was also on the retreat, where he was introduced as we were eating breakfast.
After finishing our breakfast, we entered the church where we had a short time of prayer followed by readings read by the seniors who tagged along on the trip as moderators. Once the time of prayer ended, we were greeted by a familiar sight: the auditorium from the sophomore retreat.
Many of my fellow classmates, as well as I, remembered the speeches that we heard on the retreat just over a year ago, and we did not expect this year to be that different.
We were wrong.
We began by hearing Mr. Meehan talk about becoming an adult and learning the meaning of faith. He also refreshed us on the story of St. John Baptist De La Salle. It was certainly an engaging speech, and once he finished, we were put into breakout groups. In our groups made up of fellow classmates and a senior, we discussed the topics we had heard about.
One of the highlights of my retreat experience was the breakout session, as my classmates and I shared a few laughs, as well as a discussion about deep topics. They were cherishable moments of the retreat.
After the breakout session, we gathered back in the auditorium to watch the beginning of the famous movie, Philadelphia, which dealt with the issue of discrimination in the world. It was a very impactful movie, as it reiterated to my peers and I that discrimination does indeed still exist in today’s world.
We then listen to a few seniors talk about virtue and service, concepts that are a part of a CBA student’s day-to-day life. After that, we met Father Chris Dayton in the church for a short mass to end the day.
Though many aspects of the Sophomore and Junior Retreats differed, one detail remained the same: the exorbitant amounts of pizza. Right before we boarded the buses back to the Academy, we had a pizza lunch, sharing with each other what we had learned, as well as our excitement for the soccer game that day.
The junior retreat was very important to me, as I feel like my classmates and I learned valuable lessons about our faith. We also learned about ways we could be better leaders, which is an important factor in becoming upperclassmen.
When we departed from school in the morning, we heard the bagpipes in the distance. As we returned, we were greeted by the bagpipe march to the state sectional soccer final. The boys and blue came through and won, completing another great day at CBA.
