On Saturday, September 16th, Jesuit seniors will board the buses and depart on the annual Senior pilgrimage. Seniors will hike 12 miles to the oldest Catholic Mission in the pacific northwest: The Cowlitzs Mission, north of Toledo, Washington.

The walk is led by a group of a little over 20 seniors who will be giving talks along the way. Two seniors, Liam Cassidy and Kaylee Clark, have been selected as the lead walkers and will take turns carrying the traditional flag while guiding the senior class.

“I’m most excited about the fact that all the seniors get to come together and have this [experience] as a community, something that we haven’t really had a lot of,” remarked Liam, when asked about his hopes for the upcoming weekend.

Freshman year for seniors began with Zoom calls and social distance gathering. In a sense, the class of 2024 needs to make up for the lost time.

Both Cassidy and Clark emphasized the importance of connection this weekend: talking to new people, unconditional kindness, and taking advantage of time to bond with the class before graduation.
“[We hope to] start the year off on a positive note…because it really leaves a big impact,” highlighted Clark.

The pilgrimage aims to give the class of 2024 a chance to connect and form identity as a class.

There was no shortage of preparation leading up to this weekend. The leaders partook in a camping trip over the summer to discuss roles and responsibilities, but also to talk about behavior on the retreat.

“I have faith in our class that we will be well behaved and that [the retreat] will foster that community of interconnectedness that I think is the reason people come to Jesuit,” Cassidy said.

Positive, respectful, and mindful behavior is intrinsic to the success of the pilgrimage.

“What you put into it, is what you get out of it,” was Clark’s main piece of advice for all of the seniors departing on this experience Saturday morning.