Bellarmine’s Encounter has long been a cherished tradition on campus. Each year, the members of the junior class embark on the retreat and return home with a renewed sense of joy and love for their community. On the weekend of Oct. 18-20, the first encounter of the year took place, and although much of the retreat remains a secret, some of the participants in the retreat, both juniors and leaders, reflected on their experience.
Junior Vivienne Northcutt said that “[she] loved sharing experiences and stories” and that she was “suprised how vulnerable people were willing to be.”
Encounter is well known for being a highly emotional experience, and it is clear that this retreat held up to those expectations. Fellow junior Alondra Mendoza said that she loved “being able to open up to [her] classmates and form new friendships.”
Additionally, when asked what surprised her most about Encounter, Mendoza said “hearing everyone’s stories and being able to connect more with everyone personally.”
It is clear that the bonds and friendships made on encounter are not just for the weekend, but for long beyond the retreat.
Northcutt noted that “Encounter is so special because everybody is there to feel the love, and everybody is doing it.”
Bella Pingrey, a senior leader on this retreat, said that encounter is special because you are “surrounded by people who are experiencing it with you, and also it is the encounter spirit and just feeling all of that love.”
Pingrey also noted that serving on the encounter team “filled [her] heart with so much love” and that she “recommends encounter leadership because its a way to really share what you felt on encounter with another group of people.”
The encounter is not limited to students, many teachers attend the encounter each year. Adult leader and ACE team member Kelly Rosati said “it was nice to have time to relfect and build relationship, and to grow. I liked seeing the students growing their faith, but also personally growing my own faith.”
Rosati, an alumna of Bellarmine, noted how “powerful it is to see how much the program has grown and evolved over time.” She also said that “it was great to see everyone, whether they were seniors, adults, or juniors, taking away exactly what they needed… It was really amazing to see how everyone there facilitated that growth and discovery.”
Looking back on the weekend, it is evident that each participant had a unique retreat, while still engaging in the shared experience of love and community. Although the weekend has ended, the encounter has not. Students and staff return to campus with a deeper understanding of their faith and each other, united by their commonalities rather than divided by their differences.
