On Friday, February 3, the entire Sophomore class filled into Founders Hall to spend a whole day dedicated to celebrating friendship and faith. Like any other prayer day, the class of 2019 started our prayer day by finding our table and sitting down, getting acquainted with those around us, and feasting on some yummy snacks to start off the festivities. The prayer day was then kicked off by an interesting activity that made me and just about every other girl in the building truly thinks about the people (and things) in our lives, and what they really meant to us. This was an unexpected turn in the day, as it wasn’t only about prayer and God, but also the relationships that make us grow. I know that I was expecting something similar to Freshman prayer day, which was, as the name states, mostly focused on prayer. This prayer day, however, transcended my expectations into something much bigger.

We were asked to think about our friends, our family, our goals, our materialistic items, and what it all meant to us. What was furthering our growth as people? What was stunting us as we try to grow in our relationship with God? We were questions we had never been asked before, and we were questions that really did need to be thought about.

My favorite part of the day? Hands down, the girl power aspect of the afternoon. Two speakers came in to talk to us about friendships, what a toxic relationship looks like, and how to prioritize true, solid friendships over materialistic things. At this time in any high schooler’s life, friendships are changing, relationships are shifting, and it’s easy to lose sight of what a good friend actually looks like. It was not only touching, but somewhat refreshing to hear the two speakers talk about the friendships that have shaped them as people. As young girls, it’s easy to forget what a true friend looks like, and it’s hard to remember that we have to be that true friend for each other.

We should be proud to be Xavier girls everyday, but on that Friday, it was especially easy to look around at the individuals with me in that room and feel a special kind of joy to be in a community where friendship and lifting each other up is so valued and important.