The Freshman retreat is a sacred event at Bishop Blanchet. But what if the sophomore retreat, a day-long hiatus to Discovery Park in Magnolia centered around being kind, could be just as revered?

The daunting task to make sophomore retreat just as loved as freshman retreat has been placed in the hands of 24 senior and junior leaders. Their job, under the direction of Campus Minister Tara Suchland, is to plan the entire retreat. The leaders have to be prepared to organize anything, from silly ice breaker games to emotional witness talks.

“Doing a witness talk is kind of a scary thing,” said junior leader Zach Walls. “I’m talking about what it means to be kind to others, so not only do I have to make sure my talk is good, but now I have to make sure I’m always being kind as a good example to the sophomores.”

A unique part of this retreat is that it is split into two separate days, April 14 and 15. Half of the class will be in attendance on each day, making the retreat experience more intimate and small.

The day long retreat will be introduced in a special way—a student made video about kindness.

“The video is supposed to show you what goes on in the daily person’s life,” said junior leader Kate Donaldson. “It shows you some insight into what people might be going through, and then challenges you to be kind. It should be really cool.”

The video opener was inspired by a short clip shown to the leaders by Suchland with a similar plot set in a hospital. The leaders in charge of the opening prayer decided that instead of just playing the video, they would create their own with the faces of students at Bishop Blanchet to make it more realistic.

“I’m really excited to see how the retreat plays out,” said junior leader Makenna Martin. “Last year when my class went, it was pretty boring. With all the planning we have done in preparation, I think that the retreat will be really awesome this year.”