“I’m in heaven 2.0 right now”, said Alex Flores; “Loyola moved up to the top of the list for colleges I want to go to”, added Diego Martinez. This seemed to be the common sentiment of the day as Loyola University hosted our team captains for the second Take the Lead Retreat of the year.
For this retreat, the theme was Self-Esteem, Ambition, and Motivation. Loyola University was the perfect host for our students to highlight what it means to be a college student and, specifically, a Loyola Rambler.
The positive vibes started from the very onset of the day, moving much the activity from indoors to outside to take advantage of the beautiful day and campus. Zac Brown, a senior member of the Men’s Soccer team, started the day off by talking about what it means to be a student athlete at the collegiate level and what it took to get there. After the captains bombarded Zac with questions, it was time to play and eat.
From lunch, we went into, for many, the highlight of the day: the scavenger hunt! The captains broke into small groups of about 12 and partnered with a UI staff-leader to navigate Loyola’s beautiful campus and learn more about the student body. Some of the tasks included talking with a Loyola professor about their subject, making a human pyramid with Lake Michigan in background, and talking to a graduate student about their undergraduate studies. The Loyola students, athletes, and professors were great! They were very open to engaging team captains and talking about their studies. A BIG SHOUTOUT TO THE ENTIRE LOYOLA COMMUNITY!
We turned it down a notch from there to reflect on the day and the future. Using the Norville Center as our homebase, the captains set goals for the future, many included attending Loyola, and worked on defining themselves and what they stand for.
All of our captains left with a better idea of what it’s like to be a college student, or a college athlete, or what’s it like to live on campus, or go to the library. These experiences and memories will certainly last. Thanks again Loyola for being such great hosts!