As the 2025 seniors embark on their final semester at Gwynedd, they were able to share this one particular bonding experience that really, truly, changed their lives for the better: the annual tradition of Emmaus.
A couple of weeks ago, our Gwynedd seniors gathered in the PAC with duffel bags, backpacks, snacks and everything needed for a three-day trip away from home. Without their phones on them, the class was extremely uncertain as to what they were about to face, and having previously heard phrases passed on to them from girls in grades above such as “Go. It’s life-changing,” and also “I can’t spoil what you do there,” there were some hints of nervousness as they boarded the buses that morning.
The students headed for the Malvern Retreat House, a cozy building in the middle of, well, the woods. And, without spoiling what happens on Emmaus as the tradition goes and must be honored, the girls left feeling changed. The Road to Emmaus looked and continues to look different for every single Monarch, but girls left feeling a sense of, even if in the slightest bit, finding themselves and each other. Everyone in my group described feeling closer to one another— despite even having barely spoken to certain other members beforehand— after the experience, and felt closer on her journey to finding God’s presence in her own life. Emmaus was a beautiful experience that taught us how to listen, understand, not judge and be shoulders to cry on for one another. The Gwynedd senior’s sense and strength of community was greatfully deepened through the tradition, and will be things they hold onto beyond graduation, throughout college and for the rest of their lives.
