Participants in Campus Ministry’s popular Search Retreat took a break from the busyness of college life from March 19-21—and were able to do it together in person.

Search, a retreat for sophomores, juniors and seniors, has been hosted by Campus Ministry since 1977. 

“College has just been so fast,” said Alex Weitman ’21, the retreat’s student coordinator. “Everything is just go go go. No one ever sits down and gets to have a quality conversation, and when you do, it’s very rare or very far in between. Search gives you that time and the space to sit down and be with people, authentically, to be yourself, but also to find something that maybe you didn’t know about yourself before.” 

Unlike a lot of other activities and events this year, Search was held in person. Twenty-six students and campus ministers gathered at the St. Raphaela Center in Haverford for the retreat. 

“We’re very grateful to be able to have an in-person retreat,” said Sister Jessica Kerber, A.C.J., campus minister and retreat coordinator. “We’re one of the few universities doing in-person retreats.”

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, capacity for the retreat was capped and participants had to take a rapid COVID-19 test before the weekend. Masks were also required for the duration of the retreat. 

Weitman and Kerber organized a team of student leaders who facilitated small group discussions and gave talks related to their personal experiences. 

Pat Taddei ’22, one of the retreat leaders, said he appreciates the community that Search creates.

“There is a great community of people you get to meet through conversations about faith and whatever they’re passionate about,” Taddei said. “That’s what I think makes it really special.”

Jason Greenwood ’23 said he signed up for the retreat because it was offered in person.  

“I really appreciated that I was able to actually meet new people and talk to them face to face,” Greenwood said. “It was pretty much a normal retreat. Regardless of COVID, I still got a lot out of it, and it was definitely still very impactful.”

Kerber said the pandemic has been challenging, and the retreat helped participants sort out questions and feelings. 

“We’re living in this space of, ‘Who am I and what is this all about and what does it mean to have the world living in a pandemic? And what does it mean that my school experience has been interrupted?’” Kerber said. “So with all of those questions, I find that there’s a pretty significant internal preparation that’s been happening for our students that they bring into Search with the possibility of being able to share that with others.”

The next and last Search Retreat of the semester is scheduled for April 9-11 and currently has a waitlist for interested students.