Last week, 47 seniors went on the secret retreat, Kairos. Every year, seniors can choose to attend the four-day Kairos retreat in the fall or spring. When students come back, they are always revived in their faith and like to relive their experience by using phrases like ‘live the fourth’ or ‘I’m still on my kai-high’. But what does this really mean, and what actually goes on at Kairos that makes it so life-changing?
Well, I just came back, so I will share the truth of everything that happened. To begin, it was off to a rocky start. Once we got off the bus, they sat everyone in one room in complete silence for 30 minutes. Mrs. Kearns ’78 broke the silence by telling us that the leaders would hold a draft to determine the small groups and roommates for Kairos. One Kairos attendee, Bella Vallejo ‘26, says, “I was terrified as I heard them call names, but I was really happy with my roommate, so I guess it was worth it.” As they each drafted names one by one, more people were assigned to groups and were moving luggage to their rooms for the week. Unfortunately, one girl at the end was not drafted and was placed in a room by herself.
Then, after we were assigned our rooms, we were off to our first meal: dinner. We began by sitting with our small groups at our tables, waiting for our food. Of course, the adult leaders served their food first, then revealed our next task. To be dismissed and get our food, each small group would have to perform a skit on one of the 10 Commandments. This was fun to perform the first few times, but we had to keep doing it for every meal. Most of the time, everyone was hungry, but at least the food was pretty good.
During our small-group sessions, we had some good discussions and got to know each other better, but not every group did the same. Specifically, another group leader, Bella Ramirez ‘26, had her group listen to and perform a “Hamilton” song before beginning each conversation. Bella notes, “I think this strategy really helped break the ice in my small group.” I agree with Bella; this would definitely help set the mood.
Finally, everyone has seen the famous white arches in students’ pictures with the matching red Kairos shirts, but what you may not know is the story behind them. Behind a couple of the group photos were actually very intense challenges. On the field, we spent the morning trying to build human towers and seeing whose could reach the highest.
Ultimately, only Emma Ramirez’s ‘26 group successfully created a tower that held long enough for a picture. Emma comments, “I was so proud of my group for completing the tower, but we did get a lot of wet stains on our knees.” After this, we each carried our group leaders and tossed them into the fountain. This is a fun tradition all the leaders look forward to each year: the first splashes of the holy Kairos fountain.
Although this all seems like quite the memorable trip, this is not what really happens on Kairos, because no one can really share. Or is there some truth to this? To find out what really happens on Kairos, you will have to go for yourself. And one piece of advice I can offer you to remember, which can truly only be understood once you go: ‘Don’t anticipate, participate!’
