Seniors transit into adulthood with STAR

The Senior Transition and Assimilation Retreat, or STAR "Weekend", as it has affectionately been called, will need a new naming ceremony. In a radical shift from recent years, the graduating class was due to undergo commencement a full two weeks before the end of school this year. That required STAR weekend to occur during the senior's final week at school this year.

Early on Monday morning, May 24th, 62 members of "Rokodimus", the class of 2010, and nine facilitators, boarded buses on the New Road and headed to Snow Leopard Adventure Camp on the banks of the Ganges, 30 minutes up river from Rishikesh.

What ensued was an opportunity for class bonding, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, river-beach combing, and "chilaxing". Over the two and a half day period at the camp, the class also had the opportunity to break into regional groups based on their college destinations. These sessions gave them the opportunity to learn about the realities, challenges, and new opportunities ahead as they leave Woodstock for the last time as students and enter their college and university lives.

Additional workshop sessions covered "Safety and Limits" in the college sphere, "Snapshots" of Woodstock (a time to reminisce and reflect on class memories,) and "Leaving Woodstock," (a chance to sit with a recent graduate who is currently in college and learn what it felt like to say Goodbye to the school for the last time).

On the creative side, Rokodimus graduates were asked to spend time together in advisor groups preparing "tributes" to their senior advisors, which were later enacted at the Parent's Banquet in the Quadrangle after Baccalaureate.

STAR retreat has become an eagerly anticipated event over the past eight years and offers seniors a last chance to put the breaks on and say goodbye to each other between the hectic weeks of final exams, and the hectic last days of baccalaureate and commencement. Typically, the weekend's programming is a collaboration between the college and personal counseling staff, the senior dorm staff, and the alumni office. It serves as a friendly bridge from the world of Woodstock to the much wider world of WOSA that awaits with open arms.

Chris Starr, Alumni Coordinator

When we spoke to some of the students about the retreat, this is what they had to say:

"The retreat was really good - I felt that it was time well spent," commented Louis Bonhoure, "The rafting was especially fun, but it was also good to listen about how life will be different for us after we leave Woodstock."

The rafting and the beach were enjoyed by others too, such as Yoon Jung Yi. "It was good to spend some time with my friends there - and we were all so happy as a class. Rokodimus had never felt this united!"

"We learnt about important things that we might need to deal with in college life," Yoon Jung added, "such as the type of academic work we would do or how to deal with peer pressure."