Senior Year Retreat

So far, the most meaningful event in my life has been my experience on a Kairos retreat my senior year of high school.  The bases of this retreat are openness and understanding.  At this retreat I truly realized what it meant to be a compassionate human in this world and how I want to live my life.

            I went on this retreat with approximately 40 male classmates.  We were led by retreat leaders who were also our fellow classmates that had already experienced the retreat.  This was a Catholic retreat but religion really did not matter; it was about humanity.  Classmates that I barely knew told amazing and devastating stories that they had never shared before.  I learned of my fellow classmates struggles: suicide, drug addiction, unloving parents, and so on.  On this retreat I finally realized the fragility of each guy; no longer did I think of 18 year old 300 pound linemen as emotionless.  I learned every guy’s story and also some of their deepest secrets.

            During this retreat I was able to eliminate previous pre-conceived notions and learned to treat a person with respect no matter what.  Everyday since I have attempted to live what I have learned on this retreat.  It has been a struggle no doubt, but I try.