The annual SCS overnight student retreat has been announced: from Saturday, May 6 to Sunday, May 7, current SCS students are invited to get away, relax, recharge, and reflect at Georgetown’s Calcagnini Contemplative Center in Bluemont, Va.
Framed this year as “Stepping Outside of the Ordinary,” this annual milestone has become a celebrated and anticipated event in the life of the School community. Current students are encouraged to sign up early as space is limited and the RSVP deadline is April 28, 2023. The cost is $50 and includes food, lodging (comfortable individual cabins at the retreat center), and transportation (via University-provided bus to the retreat center from the SCS campus at 640 Massachusetts Avenue, NW). Current students can RSVP here.
This year’s retreat takes up the theme of contemplation in action, a Spirit of Georgetown value that invites all of us in this community to reflect deeply on our relationship with time and productivity. Inspired by Georgetown’s multi-faith commitment, this experience will be a welcoming space to people of any faith tradition or none at all; everyone is welcome. The retreat will be led by Jamie Kralovec, SCS Associate Director for Mission Integration, and Rabbi Rachel Gartner, SCS Senior Advisor for Pastoral Care. To gain a better appreciation of what the weekend will entail, check out reflection posts in the SCS Mission and Motion blog like Rabbi Rachel’s on “Seeing and Tasting Life’s Goodness,” Jamie’s on “Becoming a Contemplative in Action,” and a summary of the 2022 student retreat.
If you’re on the fence about signing up and taking the risk of spending an overnight like this, I offer three reasons for you to say Yes.
- Retreats are a gift! I often begin a retreat experience by inviting participants to give themselves permission to treat themselves to the experience. Sure, retreats are not vacation or a time for total leisure. But the experience of time away from work, home, and other daily obligations, for even 24 hours, is a welcome chance to renew your body, mind, and spirit. Calcagnini is a beautiful slice of earth with excellent accommodations and a setting conducive to fun and lightness of being. So often, participants leave the retreat weekend with a sense of self-renewal. In the course of a year, one might look back at a retreat weekend and continually savor the memories, the self-development, the community-building, etc. Retreats are gifts that keep on giving.
- Connect with community! SCS students are busy with coursework, professional commitments, and obligations at home and in the world. Many of our students finish their programs in a relatively short amount of time. One common refrain I’ve heard from our graduates is this: I wish I had taken even more advantage of my time at Georgetown. Going on retreat with a mix of students from across programs is a rare opportunity to get to know the fullness of the Georgetown community. And venturing out to Calcagnini, the University’s reflective home away from home, is a great way to feel even more connected to the larger enterprise of Georgetown. One of my great joys from co-facilitating this retreat over the years: watching SCS community members make meaningful friendships outside of their program areas.
- Take a chance on your inner life! Georgetown is not shy about proclaiming its mission and values. We are understandably proud to share the Spirit of Georgetown with every generation of Hoyas. Across our traditions and within those traditions is a call to the inner life. All of us need to nurture this dimension of our full selves. Too often, however, the tendency towards activity, productivity, and time-taking works in the opposite direction of prayer, meditation, and quiet pause. All students – regardless of their age and existing religious or spiritual experience – can benefit from the welcome opportunity for contemplative presence that a one-day retreat invites. There is also well-established evidence that interior practices like mindfulness meditation, prayer, and other forms of spiritual activity can benefit your health by reducing stress and anxiety.
I could go on with more reasons to join the retreat but I will leave it at three. If you are a current SCS student and want to learn more, do not hesitate to reach out with questions about this invaluable experience.