This year for the fall retreat we went to Balsam Lake Lodge in Tuckasegee North Carolina. We left out from Clemson on Friday September the 12th and began our journey. Then finally we made it to our destination surrounded by nature and all its wonders as the sun glimmered on the mountains. Now the real fun begins. The theme of the fall retreat was centered another trying to find our vocation. After we unpacked everything, we drew and cutout silhouettes of ourselves and if you don’t want to look like a unicorn take your hat off ahead of time. Then for dinner we had the legendary Frito pie. That night we talked about finding our vocation, and we wrote on our cutouts our major, what we like, our core values, possible jobs we would want with our major, and then tried to connect our careers with our desires or vocation. The next morning we had some delicious waffles and after breakfast we had a guest speaker, Dr. Philip Wessinger. Dr. Wessinger talked to us about his experiences and struggles with finding his vocation in his life. After inventing the waffle iron toasted sandwich during lunch, we went hiking in the beautiful North Carolina mountains. On our final morning in Balsam, we ate breakfast and cleaned up the house a bit. Then we had our worship service next to the calm and tranquil Balsam Lake.   

Adam Nichols

On September 7 we went to Helen, GA to go tubing down the Chattahoochee River. This is one of my absolute favorite trips that LCM does. The town of Helen is really cute and peaceful. Tubing is always loads of fun. It’s a nice relaxing two hours with friends with lots of funny memories. After we tubed we got to walk around the town and go into some shops. Helen, GA is set up like a mock German village and all of the shops and restaurants fit in with that theme. It’s really fun and different from other places we get to go. After going in shops we got to eat in a German restaurant and watch others as they tubed. I always look forward to this trip as a nice day off from the already hectic school work and a wonderful day of fun with friends. 

Elizabeth Nichols