Batch 2013: Harapan!

March 22, 2010. The day of our retreat.

I had to wake up five o'clock to make a scrapbook page for my brother, which would be given to him during his retreat on the 23rd. I finished it at around six-thirty in the morning, which was also the precise moment he woke up. While he was taking a bath, I hid what I'd made in my mother's room, knowing that she'd take care of it later.

My watch read seven-thirty when I arrived at school, which meant I had to wait 2 hours before we would assemble and leave for St. Clement's Retreat House. During that time, the first years (us) were asked to vote for the SA officers. SAGA all the way, with Vanessa for Vice and Lainly for Asst. Sec. We still had about thirty minutes to kill, so we went up to watch the Grand Rally --- which Karla and Ashley boycotted though they were running for PRO and Batch Rep. respectively.

At 10:30, we left for St.Clement's.  There were 87 of us; only three couldn't come.

We settled into our rooms before lunch, girls at the second floor and boys at the ground floor. My roomies: Aya and Katreena. Katreena made the room loud, but though we promised to influence Aya into talking more, we kind of failed. Haha. I think she likes it better that way.

The first session had us experience a "fantasy shopping" and then we were required to decorate paper bags with the thing that described us most. On a one-half sheet of bond paper, we drew what we didn't want to touch. In the second session, we made six lines and did a variety of activities. Touch each other's face : That was sensitivity. Lean on each other (you have to put all your weight and just lean on the person behind you) : Trust. Seesaw (we didn't do anything right here) : Teamwork. And going around in a circle then sitting on the lap of the person behind you : Independence.

The third session had us answering various questions. I got three "I admire you"s from Ina, Lainly and somebody else I can't remember; one "I feel close to you" from Karla; one "I am most happy with you" from Alfonso (though he initially put me in "I admire you". Either way, I don't understand why he put me there); an "I trust you" from Andre; and the rest mostly went for "I am counting on you".

Before we went to sleep, we talked about conflicts within the section and whatnot. Ma'am called me well-rounded; I have no idea why. When I asked the others what my problem was, they said that I was "too smart." WTH?

I went to sleep at one a.m. and woke up six. Our session for the day had us talking about Jesus' love for us.

Finally, the pictures. They were outright creepy, okay? Seriously creepy.

I hope when you have your own retreat/recollection you'd learn and have fun as much as I have.