Sidebar
SHORTZ!!!
Today is the last day to audition for
Shorts! So be in the Science Center Presentation hall at 2:30. No regrets!
SPORTZ!!!
Come out to the tennis courts and support
the Women’s tennis team this afternoon at 3:15 as they take on CCA. If you show
up, Alejandra Gallegos will jump out of your next birthday cake.
Malcolm
Floyd
After getting his neck squashed in
Sunday’s win against the Eagles, Chargers’ wide-receiver Malcolm Floyd has been
diagnosed with a neck sprain and is on track to play again soon. Get well soon
Malcolm!
Meanwhile,
in the Vatican…
Pope Francis has said that clerical
celibacy is open for discussion, taken action against child abuse, and said, ”If someone is gay and
he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” I love this
guy.
Miss
America
This past Monday, Nina Davuluri became the
first Indian-American Miss America in the pageant’s 92-year history. Twitter
promptly blamed her for 9/11.
#xenophobia
Yesterday’s
Prose (really poetry, because it’s in iambic pentameter and often rhymes) Quiz
Sajan Palanki aced this one. It was
Richard the III! Yay Sajan! We were shocked and confused that Mr. Davis didn’t
even attempt this one.
Lyrics
Quiz:
Oh there ain’t no love,
No Monatagues or Capulets,
Just bangin’ tunes ‘n DJ sets ‘n
Dirty dance floors
And dreams of naughtiness.
Articles
Reflection on Retreats
By: Dan Forssman (Orange Puzzle Piece)
The new retreat programs are, in essence,
counterproductive.
Bishop’s fosters unity. It
advocates a common experience for each grade, rather than an accumulation of
individual ones.
Every retreat I have been on
with the Class of 2014 has been a trademark Bishop’s experience, especially the
last three. We came together and united, whether it was in puddles of
understanding tears during sophomore retreat, under a mutual hatred of packets
during junior retreat, or simply love during senior retreat.
Now, I see the retreat program
falling apart, and no one attempting to prevent its downfall. Retreats, as I
see them and have seen them for all my time at Bishop’s, do not aim to just
bring people together. They aim to create a class, to take each student and fit
him or her into their place in the puzzle. It has taken many years to do so,
but I can thankfully say that the Class of 2014’s puzzle is complete after our
amazing experience at Oakbridge last week. And yes, it is really f@ckin’
orange.
There is a major problem with
the new retreats program – I don’t see how the puzzle can be completed with one
communal retreat during senior year. By communal retreat, I mean the whole
class leaves Bishop’s, their comfort zone, travels to some camp, and
participates in different activities together, as a class. The sophomore
retreat this year was split up primarily into different groups, and when they
were together, they were on campus, defeating the purpose. The same and more
can be said for junior retreat, as the class was separated into different
retreats, which never joined together or interacted. These retreats promoted
cliques to remain cliques and friend groups to remain friend groups. Many
people chose not to even participate, whether this was because they didn’t get
into the program their friends did, or they felt the same general abhorrence to
this drastic change of tradition that I do.
I cannot attest to how
different people got to become friends with and learn more about others in
their class last week, but I am absolutely positive that they did not learn
anything about their class as a whole. I have discovered over the years that
students lead retreats, finding their own direction and purpose within them.
Personally, I have had great experiences finding my place in the Class of 2014
and learning more about my peers, classmates, and Bishop’s family. Now,
however, the new retreats program frowns upon this combination of self and
communal discovery. It may be nothing more than a vacation for some, it may
even promote individual progress, but it does not help complete each class’s
puzzle. There are pieces missing, holes in the picture.
At Bishop’s, you will come to
realize that each class is one. Sure, surf retreat must have been super sick,
catching barrels all day and getting pitted. I’m sure
that each person had the time of his or her life, as well as on any of the
other junior retreats (or maybe even the sophomore community service projects
for those who love to give). But, when it comes down to it, retreats are not
about each person having the time of his or her life. Each class laughs together, cries together, stays together, and has the
time of its life together.The
progression of full class retreats helps bring this ideal to the surface, to
the light, and eventually to reality for a class.
With the new retreat program,
I’m afraid that, when all the younger students realize this mutuality, it will
be too late. After senior retreat, their first real, communal experience in
years, their puzzle will not yet be complete. They will have to struggle to
complete it as individuals, whereas the Class of 2014 and those before us have
learned to piece it together, together.
No comments:
Post a Comment