The Briarwood School’s Senior Retreat

Bright Wokocha and Adam Conoley hang onto a swing, breathless from climbing up a tall wooden pole and jumping out to reach the swing. (Photo: Travis Short)

The Briarwood seniors recently embarked on the annual senior retreat to Camp Allen. The seniors were treated to camp-like activities, which were a mixture of outdoor activities. From lazily canoeing down the smooth, scenic lake at Camp Allen to ropes courses involving hanging onto a rope, relying only on a harness for support, before dropping quickly to the group, the seniors discovered ways to bond.

The seniors who weren’t fans of heights admitted that it was still better than being in math class. At nighttime, there weren’t rock walls or archery to keep the group occupied, but some of the group would later remark that roasting s’mores by the campfire was the best part of the senior trip. The seniors were able to laugh and discuss the day; conversations started straying from ropes courses and rock walls to memories of high school.

That evening the emphasis of the trip changed to focus on the seniors’ futures: the realization that seniors would turn into freshman at college soon, the reality that goodbyes were imminent and that senior year was already flying by.