Student newly admitted into the Sheedy Family Program's second cohort, and those studying abroad in the fall of their first year, attended the program's annual retreat in Muskegon, Michigan in early September 2023. The retreat began with a kickoff dinner at River St. Joe, a venue in rural Michigan known for its locally sourced, ethically raised cuisine and beautiful countryside setting. At the kickoff dinner, which all Sheedys were invited to attend, Lane Obringer gave the innaugural "Second Year Address," where she encouraged the new Sheedys to take advantage of the retreat as an early, formative element of the program. Obringer detailed her own experience during her first year in the program, highlighting three distinct moments of "existential crisis," which she went on to explain were ultimately positive and transformative for her outlook on the way she thought about her career, vocation, and remaining time as a student at the University of Notre Dame.
Students attending the retreat then explored the grounds for a while, playing lawn games and walking through the gardens, before loading up on a bus headed for a lodge on the grounds of a conference center in Muskegon, Michigan.
After arriving at the lodge, students participated in an opening activity with their pre-assigned dialogue groups, choosing names, mottos, and "entrance songs" that they then presented to their groups. By eleven thirty p.m., programming had finished and everyone was preparing for the second day's activities.
On day two, a Saturday, students began by learning how, or honing their ability, to closely read a poem. They then wrote their own poems, individually and collectively.
After several other sessions, students were given the afternoon to explore the grounds, many of them opting to spend several hours on the shorts of lake Michigan, with some of them even venturing into the chilly waters for a swim. By four p.m., the group had reconvened in the lodge for a session led by the program's postdoc, Ross Jensen, on the distinctions between good and back work, the Buddhist notion of "right livelihood," and how we can each, individually, seek work at, in, and through which we can flourish.
After dinner, which students prepared themselves on teams in an activity that mirrored the "auction" competition that often takes place in seasons of the popular TV show "Survivor," it was time for some team-building. Students were organized into smaller teams, and competed in "Sheedagories" and a Cranium-like game involving scultping objects related to the programs central themes of economy, enterprise, economy. Many things were said in the heat of the moment that were then put into a more good-natured context as students convened at the end of the night for the tradition SFP bonfire on a beach overlooking lake Michigan.
On the busride home, students wrote affirmations for each other and program leaders, discussed their plans for their participation in the program for the rest of the semester, and spontaneously burst into collective song. A good time was had by all.
