The theme of the Freshman Retreat, as it as been in previous years, was “Let My Gifts Change the World.” This year, the Campus Ministry Retreat team decided to step up and use their gifts to make this one of the most exciting and eventful retreats we’ve seen at Cathedral for the freshman class.

Retreat Campus Minister Eugenio Vildosola recalled beginning to plan Freshman Retreat on the first day of class in August. This year, the Campus Ministers decided that, for freshmen, it was beneficial to not get too spiritually deep so early in the year, but to focus on “finding yourself.” This focus was intended to create a better sense of community within our class of 2018.

The Freshman Retreat started in the Guadalupe Center at 8:00 a.m. on September 24th (for freshmen with last names in the first half of the alphabet) and on September 25th (for freshmen with last names in the second half of the alphabet). The students met with their group leaders, seniors in Campus Ministry Retreat, and participated in fun bonding activities with their group throughout the day.

Freshman Rafael Esteves said his favorite part of these activities was “talking to the group and getting to know new people.” One of the first activities was the “selfie challenge” where the freshmen searched, with their Campus Ministry leaders, for various locations across Cathedral to take a “selfie” with certain prominent places/ people on the campus. These people and places included the large tree in the center of the quad and our security team.

The Freshmen also participated in a “lead the leader” game where they lead their blindfolded retreat leader through an obstacle course, wrote letters to their future selves, counted the amount of Cheetos they could throw on their friends faces’ full of shaving cream, and much more.

Another highlight of the day was the guest speaker Jamie Cleaton, who spoke at retreats in previous years. Freshman Joaquin Martinez said that after Jamie’s lecture, they were prompted in their small groups to talk about experiences with God. Freshman Sarah Greeven said the lecture taught her that “it’s okay to not know what to do.”

The Freshmen recounted that the most amusing parts of the lecture was when Jamie smashed a computer with items such as a golf club and a bowling ball to demonstrate the effects of a life without faith. Jamie also pranked a few volunteers by pretending they had a penny on their foreheads and told them to get it off without their hands, only using facial movements. The freshman class laughed together because there was no penny on the subjects foreheads while they were contorted their facial muscles in hilarious ways.

With fun, faith, and dedication, the Campus Ministry team worked hard to create a unique retreat experience for our class of 2018. Freshman Rafael Esteves said he took away from this experience, that “you have to know who you are,” a message not only for freshmen, but for all faith-filled individuals.

As Campus Minister Eugenio Vidosola said, “We’re all freshmen at heart.”