On Tuesday, March 28, the sophomore class had a spiritual retreat that took place at the Sisters of St. Joseph Motherhouse in Orange. The sophomores had many great faculty speakers that spoke about their faith and how to LEVEL UP.

At the beginning of the day the sophomore class participated in Mass said by Fr. Ian. Then they were greeted with breakfast, which was burritos and fruit. Sophomore Pia Gomez shared, “The food was not bad! Personally, I enjoyed the yummy fresh fruit I had with breakfast and pasta that was given to us for lunch!”

Throughout the day, the class participated in activities led by various student leaders. These activities  consisted of the games “egg, chicken, dinosaur” and “supermarket.” They also were led in song worship by Sage Baumgartner ’24 and religion teacher Mr. Kim. This student led worship allowed the sophomores to be fully engaged and encouraged to participate throughout the day.

The talk topics were “Level up in your Faith,” “Eyes on the Prize,” and “Balancing Life.” Campus Ministry Coordinator, Mrs. Flati shared the overall goal of the retreat saying, “The sophomore class is ending their academic school year and from previous classes and alum we know that it is a big jump from sophomore to junior year. So, our campus ministers thought it would be a fun and helpful theme for our retreat.”

A few of the sophomores shared their thoughts about some of the student talks about the topics. Sophomore Gyanna Calderon explained, “I enjoyed junior Lainey Goldstein’s speech as I saw the perspective from a student athlete’s point of view which was eye opening. Relating to someone who had a hard time involving God in their daily life and how to change that was comforting.” Other sophomore Victoria Zoellers says, “I enjoyed Senior Mary Larson’s talk. It was touching because she shared her real struggles and how she got back up with the help of God and her friends who supported her.”

The day wrapped up with adoration. This is a time for reflection of the day and to center themselves before they went home to their families.