As a Jesuit university, Loyola prides itself on its mission to care for the whole person. This ideal is incorporated in the many retreats offered throughout the school year.

Awakening is one of the leading retreats meant to fulfill the spiritual needs of students. This weekend-long event aims to bring a loving and accepting community to campus.

“I think we aim to create a community where everyone is accepted and loved for who they are while also challenged to grow more fully into who God has created us to be,” Laura Alexander, university ministry assistant director, said.

There is no limit on how many times students can attend the retreat, and because it is student-led and student-staffed, many return to fulfill various leadership roles.

Connor Burke, criminal justice senior, was a leader on the Fall 2014 Awakening.

“Being a staff member on this retreat gave me a new appreciation of how great this community is. I was able to see faith come full circle in a lot of new retreaters and it was a very fulfilling experience that made the weeks of hard preparation very worth it,” Burke said.

Unlike other retreats, the experience does not stop at the end of the actual event. Instead, Awakening is a continuous community that is always growing with each semester’s new retreaters.

“It is more than just a retreat — it is first and foremost a loving community centered on the ideal of agapic love, or the unconditional love of God,” Alexander said.

The core mission of this community is to create a space of acceptance and unconditional love.

Perry Linares, psychology sophomore, was a first-time retreater this semester.

“Awakening was very intimate, people open up. You get to know people you never knew before and become closer to those you already knew. I feel I understand myself and others a bit better and I feel more a part of Loyola’s community than I have since coming here,” Linares said.

Sean McCreavy didn’t know what to expect as a first-time retreater.

“I definitely knew I’d meet new people on Awakening and that was a goal of mine, but other than that I didn’t want to have expectations because I just wanted to go in completely surprised and I loved it,” McCreavy, music industries freshman, said.

Awakening’s goal is to create a unique safe place for students to come together that is open for them to turn to at any point in their Loyola experience.

“I love witnessing our students being so open and vulnerable with one another and articulating and enacting the community that they wish to create,” Alexander said.

Students also enjoy seeing students connect with each other. “I like to see the difference in everyone between from when they first arrive and  when they leave. It’s such a great thing to see when someone comes in shy and with their guard up and then leaves with a brand new welcoming community and a place to be themselves,” Burke said.