FATIMA HIGH SCHOOL - AMBERNATH: STUDENTS' RETREAT

FATIMA HIGH SCHOOL - AMBERNATH: STD X RETREAT

18th December 2014

Braving the terrible cold, Fr. Glenn Lowe ventured for the first time to animate over 120 students of STD X A/B/C from Fatima high School - Ambernath. Thanks to Fr. Russell, Principal of the school from his warm words of welcome and to Mrs. Liz for her kind hospitality. Inspite of being a school holiday, the students gathered for a day's retreat in the senior citizens' hall.

 The theme foe the recollection was "Discovery of My Valued Self: A gift from God for Others". The session challenged the students to take the time to doing some soul searching and to discover the sacredness of life and one's contribution to society. In the wake of the brutal killings of over 130 children in Peshawar, Pakistan, Fr. Glenn invited the students to choose the better options in life. The powerful video clips and the true life stories, coupled with personal testimonies enabled the students to look at real life models and to start discovering a 'Defining moment' in their own personal lives and to start believing that every thins is possible.

 The second part of the session focused on their own personal journey of life. "Clean Your River Campaign" was a powerful opportunity for every student to review the stages of their life and to make decisions for change. "You have one life to live, live it 100%, 99 is not good enough," he said. The students took time to share the various stories of their life, for good and for bad. "This is the first time I really spent time on myself," whispered a student.

 At the end of the session a number of students came forward to write their comments in the AVEC log book:
"A truly inspiring way to tell us about the way to live life to the fullest" -  Sanjana Eluvangal X A
"It was a great experience for me. I started believing in myself" -  Durva Gawande X A
"I really felt motivated after this session. It was a really wonderful and interesting orientation" -  Sounak Das X A

 "It is a great experience that no one is small of big..every one is equal" -  Yash Mohite X A
"It actually inspired us and made us believe that we can do anything..better than what we are" - Pranalika Deb X B
"It really brought a 'light' in my life and helped me to believe in myself and think that 'i can change the world" -  albina Pinheiro X B

 "really it was an inspiring session. It motivated me about how I need to live my life" -  Chirag Sabu X B
"Good, Better, Best" - Jithin X C
"Very good, kind and humble" - Prem X B
"Loved the thoughts very much, excited and decided to change in life" -  Tanmay G X C
"Nice session, got motivated and a real blessing for students" -  Chaitanya R X C

 "Very nice session, got the values to be the best and leave the rest aside" -  Nikhil P X C
"Liked the art of thin slicing and the time management techniques " -  Hardeep X C
"Very motivating" -  Shifa and Muskan X C

 "Got very motivated from this session" - Sana Choudhary X C
"Showed me the vision of life" -  Aishwarya Kajan X C
"Changed me to be a change" -  Siddhi Ambekar X C

 "It was fantastic. It taught us a lot" - Jatin, Avinash, Suash X A
"Best session I ever attended to imbibe good values in our lives" -  Jatin Chhabria X A
"Thank you for making us aware of what we can do" -   Allen M X B

 "Very good session, thank you making us aware of good things. It was very useful and will try to become good personalities in life" -  Mujahid K X B

 "Wonderful, fantastic session. thank you for giving us your precious time" - Kushal Dayani X B

 "A wonderful session  I have ever got and made to work on 4 Ds - determination, dedication, Devotion and discipline and motivated to become successful in life" -  Suyash Bahrani X B

Thanks to the management, the staff and the students. I pray God's blessings on you all and may your lives be spent for the glory of God and others too.