The freshman retreat, which was Sept. 14-16, had many freshman excited. During this retreat, the entire ninth grade travelled to Big Bear where they participated in many activities such as a ropes course and a SAME workshop.

“I am really looking forward to being away from homework and getting the opportunity to bond with my classmates,” said freshman Joyce Jogwe.

When asked about how she likes school so far, Jogwe said, “So far, this year has been better than I expected. The teachers are all super nice and I knew a lot of people at Sage. People were a lot more open than I expected.”

Although the retreat is fun, a common complaint among is that the retreat is too early in the year.

“The freshman retreat was awkward because I did not know anyone,” sophomore Hannah Romeo said. “If we did the retreat a little later in the year, I would have enjoyed myself a lot more.”

In addition, people think that instead of doing activities with only their advisories, they should do activities with other classmates.

“Going into the retreat, I thought I was going to meet a lot of freshman. However, because I shared a room with my advisory and only participated in activities with my advisory, I was not able to meet any other people,” Romeo said.

Activities like the freshman retreat set Sage apart from most high schools because it shows that Sage cares about creating a close, tight-knit community. Freshman Annie Tang describes the school community as “overall welcoming and diverse” and was pleasantly surprised by Sage because it is a lot better than what she expected.

In the end, most students said they loved the freshman retreat and are extremely glad that they went on it.