Listening to the words of this year’s seniors, sophomore retreat attendees heard perspectives and insights about various relationships. The Feb. 27 retreat brought new wisdom to the future upperclassmen as they continue their faith and high school journey.

Seniors Addy Burris, Peter Dessert and Emma Vogt took their day off to help lead the retreat, alongside Campus Ministry Director Bill Creach, at Savior Pastoral Center. Each of them shared a five-minute reflection about their relationship with God, themselves and others.

“I liked how Addy Burris talked about being yourself and not wearing a mask around other people and not changing yourself based on what other people think about you,” sophomore Nathan Brentano said.

Vogt talked about her relationship with God, and she said that it was based mostly around how she was feeling sophomore year. 

“I really liked the God topic because I felt like it would be relatable to what sophomores might be going through…,” Vogt said. “I felt like it would be a good fit for me.”

Dessert’s speech centered around cultivating friendships with different kinds of people and not holding back from being someone’s friend just because they aren’t seen as popular. He shared advice regarding making the most out of your time at Miege and trying to participate in a multitude of activities, especially during senior year. Sophomore Kenya Diaz said that Dessert’s speech stuck out to her.

“I really liked when he talked about how Miege has so much to offer and we need to make the best out of it,” Diaz said. “We only have so long with our classmates, so we need to enjoy every minute of it.”

Companionship was the central theme of the retreat. According to Creach, he wanted the sophomores to be companions with each other and themselves. He said he hopes they see and feel God in their lives. 

“I think that if the sophomores didn’t think about their relationship with God and themselves before the retreat, we planted seeds so that they would in the future,” Creach said.

Sophomore Adam Marsh said that he talked to people at the retreat he doesn’t usually talk to. He believed chatting with different people helped the sophomore class get closer. 

“I think that the retreat was a good chance to reach out and talk to people outside of your immediate friend group,” Marsh said.

CMT decided to pivot from using NET retreats for sophomores in 2023 and for freshmen this year. Creach said that he decided to make the change from NET retreats to off-campus retreats because he thinks that NET can come on a little bit too strong. He didn’t want the students to feel overwhelmed or like they didn’t belong at the retreat. The retreat started with a talk given by Burris followed by adoration, lunch and games, and it ended with the final two talks and a senior panel.

“I think that we had something for everyone, no matter where they are on their faith journey,” Creach said. “And that’s the most important thing, that everyone gets something out of it.”

Diaz said that she thinks that the retreat felt religious to her, but she thinks that it may not have felt that way for people who weren’t as connected to their faith or used the time in adoration to talk to God.

“My favorite part was adoration because it was a really nice chapel…” Diaz said. “The music was good, and it was a long time, so I got to talk with God for a while.”

According to Diaz, becoming a student at Miege has helped her grow in her faith and given her a larger community of Catholics to talk to about her faith.

“I have definitely grown in my faith in the past year,” Diaz said. “I used to go to public school and there wasn’t really anyone I could go to about my faith, and here I have teachers and people to lean on.”

Marsh said that his favorite part was the senior panel because he felt like the students had been through similar experiences and had good in-depth answers.

“I liked how the seniors were very open and vulnerable with us,” Diaz said. “They weren’t scaring us or forcing anything on us. They were being real with us.”