Embracing New Beginnings: A Day of Reflection and Renewal

Grade 10 Recollection – A Reflection

Last December 7, 2024, 43 Grade 10 students of San Lorenzo School of Polomolok, led by their adviser, Ms. Joyce, and Campus Minister Adrian Cagampan, went on a recollection to Daceres Farm in Palkan, Tupi, South Cotabato. This recollection, with the theme “Embracing New Beginnings: Gratitude, Growth, and God’s Guidance,” was a welcome relief from the academic grind—a time for reflection, renewal, and spiritual growth.

In today’s world, every student can get caught up in the hustle, bustle, academics, or social expectations. Such a retreat gives one that pause—so opportune—to take on reconnection with oneself and a higher power and recharge batteries. It offers special space and time for allowing the young to share thought processes, feelings, attitudes, and faith free from everyday life crises.

Daceres Farm had been a quiet and reflective place for the students in all activities: prayer, group sharing, reconciliation, and journal writing. Such activities have made them contemplate further their faith, appreciate all the blessings in their lives, and set goals for the future.

It felt so warm as a facilitator to observe openness and sincerity on the students’ part in sharing what was going on inside. Vulnerability and honesty made them stick together in a much more intense manner, which developed into a community and a feeling of belongingness.

Through this recollection, the students were able to:

• Practice gratitude: They learned to appreciate the little things that happen in their lives, things that often go unnoticed.
• Harness one’s personal growth: In it, they were encouraged toward making goals, overcoming challenges, and striving for self-betterment.
• Deepen faith: They spent time praying and reflecting on their beliefs, which strengthened their relationship with God and gave them a deeper sense of peace and purpose.

As the day wore on, it was evident that the students had reaped much from this spiritual retreat. They left Daceres Farm with renewed hope, renewed energy, and a renewed commitment to living a meaningful life.

May this memory be the spark that brings change, as students head out into a future that awaits them with courage, compassion, and faith.