The 50th Freshman Retreat is in the books. If you were to ask any current Prep student or alumni about the retreat, most can vividly remember the powerful experiences they had. 

The late Fr. Jim Michalski, SJ had the idea of an upperclassmen-led retreat back in 1974. His hard work is still looked at by many people in the Jesuit community today.

During the month of January, all 52 group leaders have had meetings every Wednesday and Sunday. These meetings were to prepare everyone for anything that could happen. 

“Our core group guys met for 2 hours every Sunday from the end of October to early December” moderator Steve Monzu (‘92) said. “We planned out the retreat as a whole and laid out the blueprint like a theme and a song prior to the full group leader meetings.”

This year’s theme was “Quu-Wa-Hi, Faith Empowers” and the song was “Say I Won’t” by MercyMe.

Senior co-chair Will Young reflected on how being in charge of it has impacted him.

“My dad and my neighbor Thomas Pisasale were both previous chairmen and both were huge influences upon me during this time,” Young said. “At every meeting leading up to it, I’d always think back to how great Thomas did last year and how I could be more of a leader like him.”

Young’s fellow co-chair Jacob Finney looked back on his experience as a freshman back in March of 2021, and how the pandemic was a significant factor in his role.

“COVID definitely played a big role in my retreat journey,” Finney said. “With us missing the overnight and several other key moments in our retreat, being a leader these past 2 years kind of felt like I was getting to go through these events for the first time that I didn’t get to as a freshman.” 

Despite all the restrictions from three years ago, experience still remains powerful to many in the 2024 class despite the facemasks and other restrictions. 

Moderator Dave Kirchofer (‘85) tipped his cap to the senior leaders at one meeting for their perseverance and guiding this retreat back on track before COVID took full control. Moderator, Mike Beacom (‘85), still recalls the difficult process prior to the 2021 retreat taking place.

“We got creative about how to pull the retreat off, and we have the support of the administration to do that. Once we came up with our plan B, We shared it with the school administration and they basically said ‘go for it,’” Beacom said. 

Beacom also looks back on how the preparation and behind the scenes work panned out for him from a moderator’s perspective.

“The way I look at the formation of the retreat is from the beginning back in October when we started meeting with the core group once a week for seven weeks planning the framework of the retreat ,and then in January, we got busy with separate meetings for the grounds crew and the group leaders,” Beacom said.  “It may have been mentally or physically challenging for some, but in the end, it’s worth it to see it play out.”