After being gone for years due to the pandemic, the 12th grade overnight retreat is back. Seniors stayed at the Loyola University Ecology and Retreat Campus from Thursday to Friday.

The goal of the multi-day retreat was to foster community. Students received their anticipated random roommate assignments the night before a bus ride from Latin to the campus.

Planned activities included theater-inspired story sharing and performance, speed getting-to-know-each-other, writing letters to future selves, and sharing compliments with advisory members.

“You don’t normally tell people compliments face-to-face,” senior Malia Chen said, “so it was nice to say nice things without it being awkward.”Between the planned events, students spent time outdoors. They explored the campus’s nature and played sports. And in the evening, seniors gathered around a bonfire for s’mores.
Senior Ari Stanton-Thomas wasn’t planning on attending the retreat, thinking it wouldn’t be as enjoyable as previous senior retreats. However, the trip surprised Ari.

“We did fun activities instead of standing around doing interviews like we have for the past three years on our retreats,” she said.