Opinion by J1 reporter Sam Elkins

When I first heard that there was going to be a change in the way that the boys came to Freshman Retreat, I was indifferent. I remember that when I was a freshman, I thought it was so cool to have the boys come to our room and be within 3 feet of us and actually get to interact one on one with them.

I also thought it was cool to see the leaders interact with their guy friends because it was another way to see how Marian girls find guy friends and how comfortable they can be around them. Plus sitting next to SENIOR boys as a freshman is like sitting next to a celebrity. Some Freshmen act like they have never seen boys before.

When word was spread that rather than having two boys go to each room, there would be 10 in the quad in front of everyone, I knew it wouldn’t be the same but I hadn’t experienced it yet so I didnt know what to expect. I definitely questioned it because what the heck! Why does tradition need to be changed all of a sudden?

On Nov. 6, after experiencing it, my opinion completely changed. I thought that it was almost more effective than having the boys go to rooms. Because they were up in front of a crowd, their answers were honest and well thought out. I really enjoyed it.

The only downside to it was the fact that not everyone’s questions were answered, but  no one seemed to be too bothered by that because the seniors narrowed down the best questions. In the end, that was better than a bunch of random questions being asked that are completely irrelevant or uncomfortable to answer such as “Would you date me?” or “How many times a day do boys use the bathroom?” Yes, these are real questions that were asked in my retreat room freshman year.

More than half of retreat is spent in the rooms with only our small group so it was nice to be able to go to the quad and break out of there and be with the whole class for a bit.

Freshman Retreat is one of the most powerful and eye-opening experiences at Marian and the thought of it being changed scared me even though it was just 30 minutes of the 25-hour event. I’m glad I kept an open mind because the boys actually executed it better than I had originally assumed.