Change in Frosh Retreats
November 2, 2009
A white candleholder is placed on each of four rectangular tables. In one corner, there is a combination of green, purple, and blue pillows. On the wall is the quote: “You are a divine work of art, always bringing forth expression of beauty.” This is the newly converted room, G-23, which held the frosh retreats this year.
In previous years, the frosh retreats have been held off campus. Due to the needs of other departments, Campus Ministry had to hold the retreats in G-23.
Many of the current upperclassmen that have gone to other facilities for their frosh retreats believe that having the retreats at Moreau had significant drawbacks.
Senior Brian Tieu believes that outside facilities have special qualities. “The peace and serenity that they are able to achieve outside an environment that they relate directly to stress and work is essential to this primary experience with retreats,” Tieu said.
Senior Jun Oregana, a Campus Ministry Team (CMT) member, has a similar viewpoint. “The whole point of a retreat is to get away from school and be by yourself. The fact that we are at school means we are only getting away from our classes. We are not getting away from school in general,” Oregana said.
Senior Joseph Abenojar, a CMT member, sees the lack of space as an issue. “You are really cramped. People are tempted to talk with others that are not a part of their group,” Abenojar said.
Senior Jessica Gelico, a CMT member, disagrees. “ The location of a retreat does not really determine how great it will be. Retreats are about reflection so it doesn’t need to be in a certain place.”
The change in location of the frosh retreats was due to admission’s necessities. “The admissions office also needed to go out and do Moreau presentations earlier than previous years and needed the bus,” Campus Ministry Team Director Ann Tabora said.
Since the admissions office needed the bus earlier than past years, Campus Ministry needed to hold all the frosh retreats in August, September, and early October.
“I had to look for a facility that would accommodate all our dates, very close together, and that was a bit of a challenge,” Tabora said.
Tabora looked at 3 facilities but none could accommodate all the retreats. “Some classes had to go to one site because of the dates in their own calendar couldn’t accommodate all of them. This made it difficult to provide a common experience when the place wasn’t the same,” Tabora said.
Then came the possibility of holding the retreats at Moreau in G-23. Tabora believes that this change worked out well. “It proved to be really practical and convenient.”
A lot of money was saved. “Having the retreat here for the freshman, we saved almost six thousand dollars,” Tabora said.
In addition to money, time was another benefit. “We had a longer time with the freshman because it was right here. We didn’t have to travel,” Tabora said
However, Tabora admits that having the retreats at Moreau did have a disadvantage. “Where we used to go in Fremont, it was spacious, surrounded by garden, they could sit under a tree,” Tabora said.
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