Freshman Retreat

This past weekend I attended Notre Dame's Freshman Retreat. I had the greatest time. Up until then I had been enjoying college, but didn't feel like everything had quite clicked yet. This retreat put everything into perspective for me. it started with fun icebreakers. To paint the picture for you, it was about 50 freshman hobbling around saying "I'm an egg, I'm an egg, I'm an egg, I'm and egg," playing paper-rock-scissors, and singing nonsense songs (don't ask). Then we broke up into small groups and had discussions about college, home, family, friends, and faith. I contributed to a lot of the conversation, and I felt, for the first time, at peace with having left high school. Yes, I miss all my high school friends a lot, but here at St. Mary's and Notre Dame, everyone is so intelligent and so insightful, and my bonds with them will be not only enjoyable but make me grow as a person. All my friends from West were smart too, but I will learn a lot from all the people here with different backgrounds, and I'm excited for it FINALLY. We then created skits, making fun of freshman at football games, first exams, formals, and pep rallies. The funniest scenario was by far the pep rally. All the girls in the group were yelling at "Brady Quinn," "TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME!" and at "Jeff Samardjiza," "THERE ARE SO MANY CONSONANTS IN YOUR NAME!" Then, when "Charlie Weis" came up, the mock crowd was completely silent until he said, "Hello," then they screamed like there was no tomorrow, then silence, "I'm Charlie Weis" (more unbearable screaming). This went on and it was hilarious b/c it is oh so true. After this fun, we went to an amazing mass, and the final blessing was, "Now go in peace to the basement to the raging dance party." Oh Father Dan, you rock. We stayed up until about 3 playing Snaps, then woke up at 9 for more small group and activities until 5. Then sadly, the retreat was over. Oh and this is crazy: I met this guy in my small group who is best friends with Robyn's best friend at Purdue...small world. He had actually met Robyn a couple weekends ago and she told him he needed to seek me out so whoa. I'm just trying to get through this week so I can go to the USC game then home to play with Onya, see friends and parents, and eat real food. That's all for now, I'll try to keep you posted this time.

nhc