When the seniors got off the bus, they were chanting “Senior year, senior year, senior year!” After spending a little over 24 hours together, the class of 2014 returned home with a renewed sense of excitement for their last year of high school. For the annual Senior Retreat the seniors traveled to Calvin Crest for a time of bonding and fun, Sept. 21-22.

While only having a few hours of sleep due to the Beach Trip, the seniors met in the high school parking lot at 9:30 a.m., Sept. 21. After listening to a few rules the class loaded into a bus to take the hour drive up to Calvin Crest.

Throughout most of the first day of the trip, it was pouring rain on the students. Thunder, lightning, hail and fog proved to be challenging for the students outdoor activities. Though the students were ill prepared for the weather, their circumstances only created more memories.

During the weekend, the group was split into five teams where they competed during various activities. These teams were chosen at random in order to help the students get to know others they normally don’t talk to.

Group leader Viviana Hinojosa, ’14, really enjoyed her group, Wumbo, where she was able to see her peers’ personalities in a new light. She thinks the groups opened up a lot of opportunities for friendships.

“I enjoyed my group because there was people from different types of friendships,” Hinojosa said. “Some people in my group opened up a lot more. Some people that I’d never really heard speak, broke out of their shell. It has opened up a lot more avenues to more, new friendships. We were placed with people we wouldn’t normally group ourselves with, but now we are all friends.”

One of the main activities the teams worked on was different obstacles called Initiatives. These stations were used as team building exercises that forced the teams to work together towards a common goal. Senior Mikayla Messer enjoyed the Initiatives because it was a unique way to learn about her fellow seniors.

“I thought that the initiatives were super fun,” Messer said. “I liked them because they were just a cool way to get to know each other. I think that because we had to communicate with each other in different ways, it ultimately helped us get to know each other on a deeper level.”

During the evening, after some of the students dried off from the steady down pour of rain, each team presented a skit. The skits were supposed to document life at Fresno Christian in different ways, like through a reality television show, documentary, game show and infomercial. Every skit used impersonations to complete their skit, winning many laughs.

Impersonated a few times in the skits, senior Jimmy Chang thought the skits were funny and entertaining, as well as real.

“I thought the skits were really funny and very realistic; that is how everyone acts and it’s funny that even though I don’t talk to some people very much, they still know how I act,” Chang said. “It was hilarious when people were reenacting me, because some jokes that they said were real and not a lot of people know that; I only say that to close friends. When Katie Uribe imitated me, I thought it was really funny; she showed a part of me that I never show people.”

Adam Loughney, ’14, enjoyed Senior Retreat overall because he feels better connected to his class. Now that he knows everyone, he hopes this year will be about growing in relationships with one another.

“I loved Senior Retreat,” Loughney said. “I thought it was a lot of fun. I’m a little tired, but other than that I thought it was a great time for the seniors to get together and get to know each other better. I have to admit that wrestling was probably the most fun, I didn’t participate in it but it was fun to watch.”

For more features, read the Sept. 20 article, Students take advantage of international outreach.