I believe I can speak for most of the junior class when I say that our retreat was not what we were expecting. While, yes, it was fun in certain moments, there were also some pretty testing moments of our patience that made us deeply appreciate the concept of personal space.

On September 8th, 2026, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Class of 2028 departed to Catalina Island to begin their Junior Retreat. After loading on to three buses, we headed down on an hour-long, bumpy ride to the Catalina Landing dock in Long Beach.

The boat ride followed and there was nothing pleasant about it. Only one comparison suffices to describe it.

Hotter than Dante’s Inferno.

The excruciating heat mixed with more than half the grade getting seasick, was not a good combination. There were girls asking their fellow classmates for Dramamine, but it was already too late to ease any discomfort.

Once the boat ride came to an end, the physical misery did not stop, it only changed environments. As we dragged our exhausted bodies off the dock and on to the camp, we traded the cramped boat ride for an even more cramped camp. The overwhelming nature of the trip was just the beginning.

To start off, packing 86 girls into a small camp for a week can lead to a few issues. Without a private space to rest and recharge, everyone’s social battery drains fast, including my own.

Once we arrived on the island, shaky and tired from the 5:40 a.m. wake up time, we unloaded luggage once again, sat through welcome presentations and introductions then finally headed to our cabins to get settled in.

When it came time for our first meal, we were all separated into our activity groups, otherwise known as our CELP groups. These were the people that we would spend most of our days with and I was lucky to get a great group that kept me laughing throughout the activities.

After lunch, my CELP group kicked off the retreat with snorkeling. We suited up, received a quick safety talk and waded slowly into the water. While snorkeling, we saw many different species of fish, snails on the floor of the ocean, a sting ray and the little amount left of the kelp forest, depleted due to rising ocean temperatures- shout out Science Department Chair Ms. Leslie Miller.

Because we were one of the groups that went snorkeling, we got first dibs for the showers. That is when we discovered the shower situation. 

In the showers, there were limited stalls with tiny amounts of hot water. In order for water to come out, we  had to pull down on a rope connected to the shower-head.

After breakfast on the second day of retreat, my CELP group kayaked to a nearby bay. While kayaking, the water was incredibly clear and we were able to see fish on the ocean floor. 

Once we all pulled the kayaks back onto the beach, we were able to sketch and paint with rocks. To release the pigment to be able to paint, we simply wet the rocks and scraped them against each other.

After kayaking, our group partnered with another to participate in the high ropes course. In this course, instructors taught us how to attach the harness, get hooked on with a C-clamp and eventually go through the course. The course consisted of a ladder, a log to walk across, a tightrope, a rickety bridge and ended with a short zipline ride. Although I did not participate in the course, Addy Suckling ‘28 said it was fun but slightly challenging, especially in the tightrope section.

Later in the day, we had our first CMLT activity. The CMLT leaders handed everyone a bag of sunflower seeds then gathered into one big circle. Each CELP group was called up one by one and was given prompts. For example,  “Give a seed to someone who always makes you laugh.” Then the group would go around the circle handing out seeds to classmates who fit the prompt, while the other groups were blindfolded. This was one of the activities I genuinely enjoyed, it was a fun bonding activity that made sure everyone felt appreciated in their own way.

On day three, our last full day on Catalina, my group participated in a service activity. This consisted of bird watching and logging the bird species for the ornithologist. Afterwards, we did a few team building activities, gardening and composting and rock climbing.

Unfortunately, I was also not able to participate in the bird watching due to a physical limitation with the hike that came with this. From what I heard, it was  incredibly hot and a long trail, which ended with everyone drenched in sweat. 

After meeting back up with my group, we did team building games that were enjoyable. Some of these games included the Yes/No game, a time-crunch name game and a more specific version of Red Light-Green Light. 

After lunch, we went to the garden and learned how they compost on site, as well as all the science that goes into it which requires oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and small micro-organisms that actually break down the food. After learning the different phases of composting, and watching Adam actually eat dirt, we took a short tour around the garden, learning of the different plants growing there. We did a small reflection journaling activity and had amazing bread made by a solar oven, accompanied by a salad grown on the premises.

After completely devouring the small snack, we headed to the rock wall, got strapped into harnesses once again, and were taken through the three different walls we could climb, as well as how to belay someone to ensure they do not fall and break a bone or two. 

It was finally time for our last CMLT activity on Catalina. We split off into our cabin groups and wrote everyone a small letter of appreciation, as well as any other friends and our CELP leaders. 

After finishing, we re-gathered at the outdoor amphitheatre and had a riff-off (yes, like Pitch Perfect). The prompt was: fire. My team sang two Christmas songs, and although they did not explicitly say this, our team definitely won. Each group had two rounds, except one that got eliminated for singing an original song (have we learned nothing from Emily in Pitch Perfect 2). After this, everyone gathered by a small campfire and made s’mores, while some CELP leaders sang and played the acoustic guitar.

We finally headed to our cabins, exhausted and drained from the long days, and began to pack. Though not as lively as the night before, the quiet was nice to recharge because, let us just say, we were getting a little snappy.

At last, our final day of retreat.

Unfortunately, we still had one more CELP activity. I, however, lucked out since my group’s activity was a hike and I could not participate. 

The breakdown of that final day was breakfast, the hike, a deep clean of our cabins, a final lunch and waiting another 40 minutes for the boat to come pick us up.

Looking back, retreat was fun and definitely showed different sides of all of us. It ultimately brought the Class of 2028 together in nature, exposing us to activities we otherwise would not have tried outside of our daily lives.