Senior retreat at Saint Francis has long been an experience shrouded in secrecy, and we’ve all heard the seniors say, “it’s a really great experience, and you really ought to go.” But now, the Saint Francis Campus Ministry has decided to release all the secrets: ceremonies, traditions, the whole shebang.
“We’ve hit a record low of retreat attendees this past year,” explained Mrs. Liz Franco. “So, my group of senior retreat leaders and I felt that we needed to do something to encourage more students to join. If that means we have to share some of our well kept secrets, then we are willing to sacrifice that.”
The first piece of information Mrs. Franco shared with us, slightly hesitantly, is that students will be welcomed by a rave. After exiting the bus, one of the leaders will ring a gong three times and usher them down a dark tunnel. Students will be filed through until they reach an underground ballroom, where DJ Alvin will be blasting the best songs from popular artists including Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar, and Taylor Swift. In the middle will be a giant dance floor where students can have dance battles and see who can sing “California Girls” by Katy Perry the best. Senior Sahana Rao revealed that her favorite part of the first night rave was “being at the center of the mosh pit” and beating her friend Coco Rothenberg (’26) in a “Let It Go” blind karaoke contest.
Next, Mrs. Franco explained room assignments. The leaders of the retreat purposefully assign students rooms adjacent to their crushes. If students do not have a crush and cannot be “shipped” with others, their room goes in the “corner of single doom” until the leaders can figure out who their secret crushes are. Instead, those students get a six-foot tall cardboard cutout of their celebrity crush to keep them company. Senior Anoushka Pandya recalled living in the “corner of single doom” as one of her favorite parts because she received her special six-foot Tucker Pillsbury that she was allowed to take home. “I’m not sure how the leaders knew he was my favorite, but I will love my six-foot Tucker forever,” said Pandya.
Unfortunately, the leaders are not as kind with meals. Each senior has to compete for their food via a game of Imposter. Whoever guesses the Imposter correctly gets to go to dinner first, while the losers must go through endless rounds of the game until they correctly guess. When the imposter survives the round, they get to go to dinner. The last two students are not allowed to have a full meal and instead have to make do with salad, which they eat in a room separate from all the others (to prevent friends from sharing food with them).
After telling our friends who have been to senior retreat that Mrs. Franco has now authorized them to reveal the secrets of the experience, they were also more than willing to spill all the beans. Rothenberg especially loved the food: “The three-course meals were delightful, and I especially enjoyed the refreshing palate cleansers and vegetarian options.”
Overall, these small tidbits about senior retreat make the experience sound super enticing. Even though we were able to gather most of the information, Mrs. Franco still says that she kept a little bit to herself for the seniors to discover when they attend. So, if you wish to know more, it’s a really great experience and you really ought to go!
