Retreats: Why They are Important Now and What Next

As the second El Camino sophomore retreat draws near and Bishop Noll’s eleventh Kairos retreat has recently ended the Noll student’s question the importance of retreats.

Erica Campos, News Editor

     As a freshman, when told you are going to have to attend one retreat a year there are usually some conflicting feelings. Some students are intrigued and wonder what will happen on them. Others, though, question why they have to go on one at all.

    When senior Alejandro Garcia was asked how he felt about retreats as a freshman he had this to say,“I was really confused. I did not want to go on one to begin with because I felt like they were trying to turn me into a priest or something.”

      Since the time that Garcia was a senior, retreats and campus ministry have seen some changes. Previous campus minister, Dan Masterton left after his second year of being a campus minister at Noll. Under Masterton, freshmen retreats were usually held during school hours in the basement of Saint Mary’s church; now under Miss Stacia Bolakowski freshman retreats are held on sunday’s and take the entire day for retreat activities. Masterton and a team of students created the El Camino retreat from scratch and Miss Bolakowski still keeps the El Camino retreat alive and energetic with some changes since it’s creation.

     Despite changes or new campus ministers, the truth behind why retreats are mandatory still holds true about retreats.“Retreats give students an experience that is not common in the life of most teenagers: the chance to “get away,” forget about the worries and cares of one’s personal world back home, and get in touch with some really important ideas and issues, especially about relationships and faith,” said Campus Minister Stacia Bolakowski.

     Retreats at Noll have had a lot of success with some students. Although one can only get out of what they put into a retreat, some students have really taken true meaning out of retreats.

     Senior Tianna Orr said, “I can honestly say that my life has changed in many positive ways because of retreats like El Camino and Kairos.  I don’t think my high school experience would have been the same without them.”

     Many seniors have wondered what to do after high school since attending college usually means no more annual retreats. Many seniors wish to have a retreat experience in college because they feel that a retreat might help them plan their future better. For those seniors, College Newman Centers are common Catholic parishes on college campuses that might offer retreats for students.

     If you are not catholic and still wish to attend retreats or there are no near by parishes that offer them, Ms. Bolakowski said to “Be a pioneer, talk to a pastor or campus minister, and START A PROGRAM with them! As Mahatma Gandhi said, “We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him…””