This past weekend at Stonehill, we had Relay for Life!  I have never done it before, but I am really glad I did.  For those of you who don’t know, Relay is an event that gets held all around the country to benefit cancer research.  You make teams,and stay on the track all night.  My friend Carolyn formed a team.  I didn’t know too  much about it, but she wanted to do it, so I thought, “why not?”.  It ended up being a really great night.  There were different laps dedicated to different things.  Some were fun themes, and some were for specific survivors.  My favorite part was the luminaria ceremony.  Luminarias are bags lining the track that people decorated prior to the night.  Some have names of people they lost to cancer, some with people who are currently fighting, or those who have won the fight, and some have words of encouragement.  During the ceremony, there was a running slideshow with music and pictures of people that Stonehill students personally know who have faced cancer.  With all the stadium lights off, we all walked and dropped glow sticks into the luminaria bags, so only they were lit lining the track.  We then did a silent lap in remembrance for all those we know who have fought cancer.  It was a really great moment.  I still get goosebumps thinking about it.

The night was also filled with really fun moments!  They had relay games, scavenger hunts, and different things to entertain us throughout night.  My friends and I spent most of our time playing Ninja or volleyball, when we weren’t walking around the track.  The Stonehill radio station also stayed all night to entertain us. AND, there was free food, so who could turn that down?!  Overall, it was an amazing night.  I am so glad I participated and can’t wait to do it again next year!

A couple weekends ago, I went on a retreat through Stonehill’s campus ministry.  I used to go on a lot of retreats back in high school, but this was the first time I have attended one at Stonehill. I thought about going last year, but I never went through with it.  But, with the encouragement of some friends, I decided that a weekend retreat would be a splendid idea!   A few friends from my LC were also going, so I was ready for a fun weekend hanging out with them, if nothing else.  But, I ended up getting much more than that.

Now, I of course cannot give too much away about the happenings of the retreat, because everything shared there is private and personal.  But, I can still share a little bit, at least, of what I got out of it, to hopefully encourage any current or future students to go on retreat.  There were a couple of things on the retreat that stuck out to me.   They were kind of odd things to focus on, seeming fairly insignificant compared to everything else that went on that weekend, but they are what made me think the most.  They both happened on the first night.  The first thing was just a line that the leaders told us when we arrived.  That was to “participate, not anticipate.”   We used to implement that same phrase on our retreats in high school.  You are not supposed to always be wondering what you are going to do next, but rather to simply take part in and enjoy what you are doing at the moment.  Now, even though this was supposed to be in means of the retreat activities, I thought a lot about it and how it can relate to life in general.  Growing up, we were all trained to be thinking about the next thing, or anticipating.  In high school, you had to think about getting good grades and doing the right activities to get into the college you wanted.  And now that we’re in college, we worry about picking the right major for the job we will eventually have, and what internships will look good on those job applications.  And although these things are of course very important to think about, they tend to take over sometimes.  The stress of the future inhibits us from enjoying the present.  Being away from campus on retreat without any homework or my cell phone allowed me to completely escape all those stresses of the future and live completely in the present.  It was a really great feeling.  And now that I am back on campus, I know that I cannot completely live in the present.  It would be irresponsible not to think about the future.  But at the same time, I learned that not every single minute of my day needs to be about the future.  Some of those minutes can be about the present.  Walking to class can just be enjoying the sunshine, and the sometimes chilling wind on my face, instead of worrying about what class will be like.  I can just find out when I get there.  I think it is important for everyone to have these little moments in the day, no matter how short or fleeting, to really just participate in the moment, not anticipate the next one.

The next thing that really stuck out to me was a song that one of the leaders played for us.  The song is called “Awake My Soul” by Mumford and Sons (scroll to the bottom to listen!).  My friend Carolyn had just introduced me to Mumford and Sons a few weeks before the retreat.  I loved listening and singing along to their music in my room, but I had never really taken the time to listen to the words.  One of the lines that is repeated in this song is “where you invest your love, you invest your life.”  I took the time to really think about these lyrics.  Investing your love in something is the most important thing you can do.  People don’t take lightly where they invest their love, because that truly is where your life is also invested.  This made me consider what things I invest my love in.  What was my life invested in?  Was it my relationship with God, my family, my friends, or even with myself?  The answer was YES, to all.  Though I, at times, struggle with all of those relationships, that is still very much where my love is invested, because those relationships and those people are my life.  And as your life changes, you invest your love and life in different things, like the day I chose Stonehill.  Choosing to fly 3,000 miles away from everything I knew to come to college was a big decision.  I was leaving everything that I had spent my whole life investing my love in, but it was to invest my love somewhere else.  Orange County, California will of course always have a big piece of my heart, but Stonehill has become just as important.  Stonehill has brought me new friends, opportunities, experiences, and memories that I will always keep with me.  I do not want to leave here feeling like I wasted all of my time anticipating and not participating.  I have just over two years left, and I plan on taking advantage of every moment, because I love this place.  I have invested my love here, and this place is my wonderful life.

LC friends on retreat!

Awake My Soul by Mumford and Son