This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend one of BC’s most well known retreats, 48Hours. 48Hours is a two-day retreat open to all freshmen where first-year students bond over common obstacles and share stories that some may have never shared before. If you have the opportunity to attend 48Hours, I recommend with all my heart that you do because it was one of the most enlightening, eye-opening, and self-discovering experiences that I have ever witnessed and I know others feel the same.
If you have not attended this retreat yet, and are unsure whether to do so, I encourage you to sign up anyway, because I have not heard one person say they regret going. It is totally okay to be hesitant about going, but it is truly a great opportunity to leave the BC bubble and get to personally know your classmates, as well as yourself. I can guarantee that you will be leaving 48Hours with a group of supporting, genuine, and inspiring friends.
If you are a regretful upperclassman who did not attend 48Hours your freshman year, it can still be an enlightening experience as a sophomore point guard or senior group leader.
Senior Maire Claire Diemer who was a 48Hours leader (and probably the best one), was a bit apprehensive about first going on the trip: “As a senior, I felt like I had already been on 48 hours, and had had plenty of leadership and mentorship experiences before. While I was on 48Hours, I was totally surprised to find that I got much more out of it round 2. My freshman impressed me ceaselessly and I found a level of reflection and eloquence in them that I hope to emulate and bring back to BC.”
So if you have still not signed up for 48Hours, here are 48 reasons why you should go!
1. Develop authentic and genuine friendships.
2. Listen to true stories of upperclassmen.
3. Listen and relate to obstacles that other classmates are facing.
4. Gain a senior mentor.
5. Leave the BC bubble.
6. Tie up loose ends.
7. You will never have to regret not going.
8. Now you will understand why everyone loves 48Hours.
9. Travel to locations in Cape Cod or New Port.
10. Participate in the polar plunge or an indoor water park.
11. Eat non- Mac food.
12. Opportunity to journal your ideas.
13. Freak out about icebreakers and then realize that they aren’t that bad.
14. Experience a trustworthy, silent presence of comfort within your group.
15. Queen-sized beds.
16. Above average water pressure.
17. Acceptable time to ugly cry.
18. Acceptable time to laugh a little too loud.
19. Don’t have to think about schoolwork.
20. Develop a strong trust between people you have never met before…it’s incredible how close you become.
21. 2 Ply toilet paper.
22. Not getting harassed by Aruppe in the dining halls.
23. Long nights of playing mafia.
24. …And Cards Against Humanity.
25. Relax.
26. Be comforted by others.
27. Comfort others.
28. The relief that comes after panic when looking for a pair of empty shoes in “All my Friends and Neighbors.”
29. No communal bathrooms=clean showers.
30. Reflect on your college experience so far.
31. Talk about anything and everything – judgment free.
32. Receive and give lots of hugs.
33. Develop new BC lookaways… just kidding.
34. Have a group of sincere listeners.
35. Witness a fishbowl – if you do not know what this it, it is something that you must experience.
36. Watching the strange positions in “Bird on a Perch.”
37. Speed-dating.
38. Intense song competitions and a listen at all the people who are definitely not in acapella groups, including myself.
39. Realize that everyone gets rejected from clubs.
40. High dog- sorry, inside joke with Group 9, Hyannis.
41. Start off as strangers and leave as a family.
42. Watch your entire group go through an entire box of tissues and share one cup of water- again, shout out to Group 9.
43. Have a group photo shoot.
44. Lots of candy. Lots of it.
45. Get a forced workout by carrying your big duffel bag all the way to Lower to catch the bus.
46. Make a plan on how to better your college experience.
47. Write a letter to your future self.
48. Basically, just experience one of the most remarkable and illuminating weekends of your life.
Even though my 48Hours weekend came at a time where my workload was extremely heavy and overloaded, I was still able to experience peace, friendship, and reflection that I would never have reached on my own. At college, our schedules can be so hectic that we don’t get any time to relax or just think. 48Hours offers you the chance to take yourself away from the busyness of college and focus on yourself and others within your small group. If you haven’t gotten the point yet, I am going to be blunt: Sign up for 48 Hours right now and you will not regret it.
Sources:
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