Written By: Alessi B.

Edited By: Grace K.

“The Grade 9 retreat was supposed to build unity,” confessed one freshman. “But to be completely honest, I’ve never felt more divided than ever…”

For the past three years, ISM has hosted an overnight Grade 9 retreat, designed with one purpose: batch bonding. The trip is held annually at Pagsanjan Falls, lasting one night and featuring three activities: a boat ride, a hike, and an “Olympic Games” at the Splash Mountain Resort.

However, this tradition sparked questions among freshmen: Why always Pagsanjan? Why don’t we get a say in where we go?

Mr. Woods, head of CAS and Activities, answered this question, explaining that strict security rules dictate the choice. “Like ICARE or Saturday Services, it takes months, sometimes years, to approve a site for a group of students, especially a batch of 200 teenagers.” He added that Pagsanjan is a reliable, safe, and already approved choice, convincing him to keep it as that for future years as well. 

In reality, the trip was less about the location and more about the purpose: building unity. But did this really happen? Did people actually branch out of their friend groups and talk to more people? 

Haniyya (9) reflected, “Because the majority of the trip was with our advisory group, I didn’t really find myself getting to know everyone in the grade.” When asked what could be done differently, she suggested that pre-assigned mixed groups (e.g., across advisories, genders, or even friend circles) could have been made to help students mingle more naturally.

Haniyya’s comments highlight the divide between expectation and reality. While the retreat aimed to break barriers, its structure may have reinforced them instead. Other freshmen thought similarly as well.  

One student added, “It felt like we were just hanging out with the same people we already see every day. If the retreat was really about bonding, then mixing us up would’ve made more sense.” This student’s reflection reinforces Haniyya’s point: while the retreat was designed to unify the batch, the advisory-based groups may have unintentionally maintained social walls.

Despite mixed reviews on bonding, one thing united everyone: the waterfall.

Groups of 15 grade 9 students were crammed into a flimsy raft, pushed through roaring currents, twisted and turned under the spray, and sometimes, were centimeters away from tipping over. 

Andie (9) summed it up perfectly: “It was probably the most fun because it was the most unexpected.” The waterfall’s secrecy added to the thrill. Recalling days before the trip, coordinators only hinted that “you’ll get wet but not swim,” leaving the batch unsure of what awaited them. As one student joked, “Maybe it should be a hidden rule; upperclassmen never tell freshmen what to expect at the falls.”

If the official schedule of the retreat had been all waterfalls, the Olympic Games, and a hike, the unofficial schedule was something else entirely. Once the freshmen returned from their activities at 6PM, they were free to choose what to do until 9PM. Some whispered in games of Paranoia, others played hide-and-seek, while some swam in the resort pool again. In many ways, this after-hours chaos felt more collaborative than the structured activities. Daniel (9) mentioned, “It was the first time I felt like we weren’t just advisories and we were one big batch.” His words capture what the structured activities couldn’t quite achieve, thus giving students the freedom to choose how they bonded. 

So, did the Grade 9 retreat really achieve its lofty goal of unity? The answer is complicated. For some, it was a chance to connect beyond their usual circles. For others, the advisory-based grouping felt limiting, leaving cliques intact. Maybe that’s the real lesson of the retreat: unity doesn’t come from assigned groups or planned activities but shared experiences that catch us off guard.

If unity is going to last, it won’t be because the school planned it, but because we choose it, again and again, in the hallways, classrooms, and conversations that follow. The retreat may have been messy, imperfect, even divisive at times, but it planted seeds. Whether those seeds grow into lasting batch unity or fade into just another story told about “that time at Pagsanjan Falls” is up to us.