Conversation. Community. Commitment. While these three terms are constantly represented in several ways throughout our Central community, a special emphasis is placed on them during our senior retreats. For the past three years, seniors have been given the opportunity to attend a special retreat during their final year at Central. While retreats are available to all grades, something feels a little more nostalgic about the final one. With the third and final senior retreat taking place this weekend, I talked to a few people about what really makes this retreat so special. 

Mr. Villalpando, Campus Ministry director, is responsible for planning and organizing the retreats. For seniors, the retreats occur at Tecaboca, with students arriving Sunday evening, then making their return back to Central Monday during school. While team building activities, spiritual exercises, and reflective moments are aspects of the retreat, students are given a majority of the time to themselves, where they can enjoy one another’s company. Mr. Villalpando recognizes the importance of built in free time saying, “Getting to hangout with your friends in a worry free environment is a perfect opportunity to grow our community with one another, and that ultimately makes it one of the most powerful aspects of the retreat.”

I next talked to Religion Department chair, Dr. Moser. He has played another large role in the coordination of our senior retreats which have taken place the past 3 years. When asking Dr. Moser why we encourage our seniors to participate in one of the three retreats, he gave a strong response saying, “Going on the retreats give people an opportunity, especially when they are heading off to college next year, to take a little time and put a little stock and reflection in who you are, who you want to be, and where you’re headed with your life.”       

Lastly, I asked a few Central seniors some questions regarding their thoughts on the retreat. Seth Gomez, who signed up for the upcoming retreat told me he made his decision because, “Everyone says how much of a fun time it is, and entering this stressful time of year for us I believe it could be really helpful.” Rogelio Cruz who attended our second senior retreat defended these positive vibes saying, “You could tell and see people’s true feelings of joy emerge from their masks a lot of people try to wear at school in attempt to be happy.”

Matt Gonzalez who attended the first retreat gave a more lighthearted answer saying, “It was a fun retreat. The best part to me however was definitely beating my favorite teacher Mr. A in poker as I stole all his chips.”