Over a month after the Sage Hill Freshman retreat was postponed due to a wildfire in the San Bernardino National Forest, freshmen eagerly boarded the buses on a three-day retreat to Cedar Lake Camp on Oct. 21.

The freshman retreat has long been a tradition of Sage Hill, having started in 2007. As the school values a close community, it was intended to create meaningful connections within the grade level and their advisories early on through activities that encourage collaboration. Despite the postponement, however, the Class of 2028 has already established close bonds, which impacted the dynamics of the retreat. 

“If it wasn’t postponed I feel like we would’ve gotten to bond more. Because it was later, I feel like friend groups were already formed so it was kinda a waste since the whole point was to bond with our freshman class,” Freshman Becca Weichert predicted. 

Community was built on the freshmen’s own interests, instead of within advisories. Because many favored their personal friend groups, students were more enthusiastic about individual activities on the first day. 

The first day of the Big Bear retreat kicked off with a camp orientation, followed by an afternoon of free time where the students were free to stay within their own friend groups. Students spent hours indulging in the crisp fall air on a hike  or chatting with friends while sipping from a cup of warm hot chocolate in the commons area. This was noted by many as their favorite parts of the retreat. 

“My favorite activity during the retreat was my free time because it allowed me to adventure through Big Bear and see nature with my friends.” Freshman Sophia Lin said.

Sophia added that she enjoyed the independence of venturing off with friends.

“My favorite parts were exploring the woods with my friends and playing volleyball during free time,” freshman Bryan Tseng said. 

The second day consisted of more collaborative activities where students exercised their communication skills with their advisory in rotations that consisted of lawn games, The Great Race, and rope climbing. The day ended with making advisory banners, which were later presented to the entire grade. The Parker advisory won the competition with a banner that presented Haikus representative of each member. Despite the positive idea of advisory bonding, some students said they would’ve liked more freedom.

“My least favorite part of the retreat was the fact that we were limited to being with our advisories and weren’t able to do activities with the rest of the school,” freshman Ethan Mcnutt said.