Galesburg Reporter

Monmouth College’s English Department held the first of what it hopes will be an annual retreat on the last full weekend in September. A good mix of students, from seniors to first-year majors and minors, attended the trip with faculty members Marlo Belschner and David Wright.

Belschner described the retreat as “a cross between camping and not camping,” as students stayed in cabins at Camp Abe Lincoln in Blue Grass, Iowa, surrounded by nature. The group took hikes, went zip lining and tested their archery skills. There were also literary discussions, campfires and a writing workshop with poet Ryan Collins.

“My favorite moments were around the campfire – spontaneous conversations, talking about Firekeeper’s Daughter (the common reading prior to the retreat) and generating writing with the help of Ryan Collins,” said Wright. “Yes, we smelled like wood smoke for several days, but those interactions were a highlight of the weekend.”

Creating community

The professors hoped the retreat would create community by putting students in an off-campus environment where they could get to know one another better.

“My favorite moments were around the campfire – spontaneous conversations, talking about Firekeeper’s Daughter and generating writing with the help of Ryan Collins. Yes, we smelled like wood smoke for several days, but those interactions were a highlight of the weekend.” – David Wright

“We know that often what keeps students going during a semester or a whole academic course of study is a sense of community, and we want to foster that for English majors and minors,” said Wright.

An admirable goal even under normal circumstances, Belschner said striving for that community feel is even more important in the wake of the pandemic.

“We wanted to get students away from campus and help them feel more comfortable, as well as make up some ground lost during COVID,” she said.

Connecting students

Students said the retreat was a fun opportunity to get to know one another better.

“I was a little nervous, especially when we first got there, because everybody seemed to already know each other,” said first-year student Elizabeth Guenther of Granite City, Illinois. “But they were very open and welcoming. The retreat was a great way to make friends and get to know more people on campus.”

Guenther said she chose to go on the trip not only to get to know people better but “to see what the English department was all about.”

Anna Brunner of Mount Zion, Illinois, also found the trip to be beneficial. A sophomore, she knew many of the other English students, but she wasn’t particularly close with them. Her favorite moments, she said, were conversations during the down time between events.

“When we didn’t really have any activities planned out, but you really got to meet the people, that’s how I really got to learn about everybody,” she said.

A result of the retreat, said Brunner, is that she’s more comfortable asking seniors in the department questions and soliciting their opinions.

“As a whole, it makes the English department better connected, and I think that’s important for the vitality of the department,” she said.

Future plans

The trip was a fun adventure for the professors, too.

“I loved learning about our varied, interesting students,” said Wright. “English majors are curious, smart humans who love language, so how can that not be fun?”

Belschner said she enjoyed the conversations around the campfire with students and that she liked how the environment allowed for impromptu and organic conversations about students’ future career plans.

She and Wright consider the event a success and hope to hold a retreat for years to come, perhaps to different locations. Belschner wants to take a trip to Lake MacBride, a scenic state park in Iowa, and she hopes to do more tent camping. With consistent funding, and opportunities for student leadership, she said the next retreat could be even better.

“It’s too early to know exactly where or how to follow up on what we’ve done, but this should be a tradition we keep growing,” said Wright.

Original source can be found here.