Class of 2020 expands comfort zone, forms new connections

From being up in trees in the high adventure ropes course to showing their vulnerable side around a campfire, the class of 2020 found themselves stretching their comfort zones during the annual senior retreat at Hume Lake, Sept. 23-23. The games, activities and team-bonding exercises all helped unite this years senior class.

FCS faculty Robert Foshee, Kori Friesen, Kimberly Bell and Robert Hyatt led the trip. On Sunday night and Monday morning students heard teachings from Hyatt.

As the students arrived at camp, one of the first challenges that faced them was the high adventures ropes course. Some were not intimidated by the height, but others would never consider it. Senior Richie Cortez debated participating, but decided to conquer his fears.

“Once I got up there and looked down, funny enough, I wasn’t scared,” Cortez said. “The adrenaline kicked in and I was very focused. The constant swaying made it difficult to stay focused, but I concentrated on what was in front of me; taking it one step at a time. Taking that last jump off the course was probably the most insane and fun thing I had ever done! I hate free falls, so that feeling of jumping off the edge gave me a rush I had never felt before. Once I had calmed down and realized what I had done, I was very proud of myself because I never would have done this on my own.”

Max Munoz, ’20, is very familiar with the class of 2020, since he has been with them since kindergarten. Even though he has lived in proximity with his classmates a majority of his life, he loved connecting with ones he didn’t often interact with. Munoz treasures the opportunity to share past memories with his classmates, and is eager to make more.

“It’s important to be close as a class because it makes everything you do in school easier,” Munoz said. “At Fresno Christian, we have the privilege of having smaller classes of students to get to know each and every one them personally, while at other schools classmates barely remember your name. I feel like if you don’t take advantage of this, your class just becomes awkward. I’m proud to be apart of this class and wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Although the retreat lasted only one night, the class managed to participate in two chapels. After worship led by Daniel Garrison and seniors Blake Deffenbacher and Wesley Hinton, Technology Director Robert Hyatt taught from the Bible. He explained that even though Sampson had all the potential in the world, he chose to foolishly squander it, and warned against these behaviors.

In less than 36 hours, seniors found themselves in the high adventures ropes course, roller skating, singing worship songs, and bonding with their fellow classmates. What a great Senior Retreat! @fresnochristian #TheFeather pic.twitter.com/gySTJyAjVc

— The Feather Online (@thefeather) September 24, 2019

Every year during the Senior Retreat, many students say their favorite part is victory circle: the class gathers together after their first full day of team building and shares with each other around a campfire. After saying what they are grateful for, the class is called to challenge one another. Senior Brittany McCann felt a strong conviction to challenge her class to conquer fear.

“I think it’s super easy at this age to allow anxiety to overtake us and get overwhelmed,” McCann said. “We need to stay motivated and find a reason to want to get up and try. As cliché as it sounds, ‘senioritis’ is more than just a thing seniors get, it affects people in so many ways and it makes them stop trying. We get lazy and stop caring, but we need to stay motivated, whatever we decide to do that is up to us. It’s super important as we enter this stage in our lives and move from high school to college and eventually our careers, that we stay motivated and continue to have hope. If you have hope you have virtually everything.”

Logan Lewis can be contacted via email and Twitter. 

The slideshow below includes images from the annual senior retreat, Sept. 22-23.

Gallery • 25 Photos