BUILDING LEADERS
The Salesian Leadership
Retreat is more than a week away from home:
it’s a week in the presence of God.
BY JOHN PAUL BUI '23
Twice a year, selected Archbishop Shaw students have the opportunity
to experience a privilege only few get to receive: the chance to join
other Salesian students across the country for the annual Salesian
Leadership Retreat held at the Marian Shrine in Stony Point, New York.
This is not a vacation: it is an opportunity to grow in virtue, holiness,
and leadership in the hopes of bringing those lessons back home.
Senior John Paul Bui spoke to two students who attended this Fall’s retreat.
It sounded like a pretty good deal: a whole week off of school without any assignments, responsibilities, or worries. However, there was a catch: the whole week would, instead, be filled with sharing, reflection, and prayer.
“When I first learned about it, I was tempted to see it as a joke,” recounts Junior Austin Rudolph. “I didn’t see the seriousness of it at first”.
Austin is one of many students at Shaw who are seemingly involved in everything: he’s a drummer for the Eagle Band, a percussionist in the school’s choir, a member of many honors societies and clubs, a nationally recognized cheerleader, amongst other things.
Despite his clearly visible love for Shaw, Austin found that, within himself, there were places in his heart where he felt walled-off and distant from others. While this emptiness was sure to be a topic of discussion during the retreat, he didn’t expect much to change.
That is until a few days into the retreat when everything changed.
While a week away from school may seem like a welcome reprieve for some, others may find it to be a daunting proposition.
Junior Braden Cortez knew that this opportunity could very well be offered to him someday; s a peer minister, it seemed like a natural conclusion that Braden would be asked to go.
Despite the privilege, Braden didn’t immediately consider it as such. On top of all of the responsibilities and duties he would have to makeup after the retreat, Braden wasn’t fond of having to spend a week apart from his family and friends.
While there was some hesitation in his heart, Braden immediately realized upon arriving at the Marian Shrine that there was something at work that was much bigger than any of the excuses he could had given not to go.
PARTICIPATE, DON'T ANTICIPATE
The Salesian Leadership Retreat is a week-long opportunity for Salesian school students to come together for formation, spiritual growth, and community. The hope of the retreat is that each student will bring his or her experience back with them and share it with their peers. That’s where the leadership component comes in.
Perhaps the most unique aspect of the retreat is that most of it is a bit of a secret: students aren’t told what to expect once they arrive. For some, that can be a bit disconcerting.
“I think they were skeptical at first,” admits Mr. Eric Budd, a second-year social studies educator who was asked to accompany the young men. “They didn’t know the schedule or what really to expect, but we kept encouraging them to “participate, don’t anticipate”: to let go. Once they did, they finally realized why we kept asking them to do that.”
The moment of realization happened, according to Budd, when all of the students finally mmet one another. "There was solidarity in the fact that they were all in this situation together," prompting the students who, despite knowing nothing about one another, to trust in each other, the process, and the Lord.
“It felt good to express myself in that way; I don’t get that many opportunities in my daily life to express myself like that,” reflects Cortez. “It was weird, at first, but I saw the goodness in it; I knew it was good”.
"It was like a punch in the chest that I could feel in my soul."
The week isn’t just hanging around: “I was impressed with just how jam-packed the schedule is,” according to Budd. “The kids are always doing something.” A big part of that hidden schedule are opportunities for reflection and spiritual formation.
“Specific talks [during those times] really resonated with me, it just really made me emotional,” admits Rudolph. “I don’t know how to explain the feeling I had. It was like a punch in the chest that I could feel in my soul.”
It’s that core feeling, that fundamental shift of mindset, that Austin describes as the true beginning of the retreat. “Faith is a journey and I am on my way, no matter how long it takes, I will get there and I will be better than I have been.”
FAITH IS A JOURNEY
“It was nice to experience... everyone just talking with each other and having fun,” Cortez reflects. What seemed to impress him most about the retreat was just how swift and profound was the transition from strangers to friends. It was in this intimacy that Braden says he got to know himself better: “It all connected back to me and my own life. It made me remember the spiritual sense of my life.”
While the phrase leadership often conjures up images of grand plans and heroic action, the journey for these leaders starts within: They’ve resolved to start going to weekly adoration together and to invite kids they may have otherwise never spoke to,” says Mr. Budd. One takeaway for Braden that can be revealed is that leadership starts with one’s own journey of faith:
“I began to understand myself and my character... the relationship I’m called to have with my brothers, friends, and everyone. The retreat helped me to understand that.”
Both Austin and Braden know that this journey of faith is just the beginning and that the end result is to be more than ambassadors for the school, but evangelists and co-workers with Christ.
A trip to New York, however, would not be complete without sampling some of the culinary offerings the Empire State is famous for. The best thing according to Austin? “Pizza. New York pizza is the best.” For Braden, the answer is the same: “New York pizza has something special going on. It’s been hard eating ‘normal’ pizza since.”