To my Kairos sisters:

I know it’s been two years, but that also means that my sister is fresh off a Kairos retreat, and I’m thinking of mine.

I did not know what to expect for my Kairos retreat at all. I had been on transformative retreats before, and loved them. I had no doubt that this experience was about to be great, but I really had no idea what would happen.

All I knew was that after Kairos, everyone says they are close with the most random people. That made me nervous. Who was going to be my next best friend? There were so many girls who I had just passed in the hallways for the last four years, never wondering what was happening in their life. But now I was about to find out.

Kairos came at the perfect time for me. On the brink of graduation, I found myself in the middle of unwanted friend group drama and unsure of how to deal with it all. Additionally, I was still mourning the recent loss of my grandmother.

Then I found Annie. We had been friends throughout high school, but I would not have described us as close. Annie and I ended up sitting in her room all throughout break talking for hours. It’s amazing how similar we are and had never had the opportunity to bond like this. It’s been two years, and we pretty much haven’t shut up yet.

The best part about Kairos is that Annie isn’t my only Kairos sister. I ended up talking to the most random girls, like everyone had told me I would. This ranged from people I had never had a conversation with to people who I knew but never really well. For example, my friend Rionach and I had never talked before Kairos. But after she was my Kairos leader, we became friends. I finally was saying hi to all my classmates, not just my friends.

Unfortunately, my Kairos retreat did not have a full four days. On the second night, there was a storm that made the retreat house lose power. Therefore, I had a very unique experience. All of the girls ended up sitting in a dark hallway, only using the fake candles as light. One girl had a guitar, and we sang songs like “the Climb” and “Riptide.” Even though it was not what was planned, it ended up being one of my favorite moments. It made our retreat so special and brought us together.

I’m not close with everyone from Kairos still. But one of the great parts of Kairos is that it is four days away from your hectic life. It’s enough to change your perspective. It lets you see what everyone you are about to graduate with is dealing with before you all leave high school. But you always know you have Kairos sisters and that experience.

To my sister after her retreat: I hope this was an amazing experience for you, and that you graduate with a new perspective.

To MSMA’s KaiX: LT3.5, Love and Be Loved.

To anyone going on Kairos: Find your sisters and love them.