Senior year for the class of 2019 is off to a great start with a successful senior pilgrimage. Led by Ms. Bernal’s Faith and Action class, 160 seniors had an amazing time bonding with their class and taping into their inner-spirituality on this retreat. These seniors took off from Prep early on September 22 for two full days of “hiking,” reflecting, and creating memories of their last year with their class.

              Seniors spent the time to reflect on their classmates talks and chat with their peers they haven’t talked to in a while.

              This retreat wouldn’t have been made possible without the enormous efforts of the Community Ministry team, especially Ms. Bernal, and her Faith in Action class. Ms. Bernal shared some insight into the fact that this pilgrimage was the, “biggest one yet. We’re talking about 60 more people than usual on this trip.” When asked why she thought there was such an increase in participants this year she said, “this just goes to show the unity of this particular class and how they value time together.”

              Mr. Bernal shares that a retreat, such as the Senior Pilgrimage, is successful due to “the class itself and how much they are willing to put themselves into the retreat because you get out what you put in.” Also, she adds that the “Faith in Action leaders for sure drive how this specific retreat goes.”

              One of the rectors of the retreat and a member of Ms. Bernal’s Faith in Action, Eli Dever ’19, said of preparing for the pilgrimage as a rector, “we had a lot of meetings with Ms. Bernal and spent countless hours in the classroom figuring out the logistics of the retreat.” Being a retreat leader for one’s own class is a very unique experience that not many at Prep go through. Dever says of this, “usually, I don’t know what’s going to happen when I go on a retreat, but knowing in advance, though it takes the surprise away, gets me way more excited.”

              Seniors had such positive insights into their experience on the trip. One senior, Maddie Bender ‘19, exclaimed, “I thought the retreat was really fun and a good bonding experience for the class!” She further elaborated by saying that the senior pilgrimage was “special because in a few months we are all going to be graduating so it was a good experience for us to appreciate our class.” When asked what her favorite part of the retreat was, she responded “the open mic because it was fun to come full circle from freshman year and listen to our classmates.”

              The behind the scenes work of Community Ministry and Faith and Action really paid off for an eventful and enjoyable retreat for the seniors. This pilgrimage kicked off a year of many “lasts” for this senior class before they embark on their lives beyond Seattle Prep.