L.I.F.T. Testimonials

Read about the experiences our students have had participating in retreats:

Describing Kairos as empowering, eye-opening, and emotional, would all be understatements. I honestly could and cannot put into words how much this meant to me—Cal Lepkowski, Class of 2023

Kairos was an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. The connections and understandings I had with other people were ones I never had before.
—Mike Giannico, Class of 2016
Walking into an experience you know so little about is both exciting and scary. However, after that weekend I could not have been more grateful and blessed to have experienced such a beautiful weekend with such beautiful people.
—Roma Parikh, Class of 2018
Kairos is one of the most powerful experiences I've ever had the pleasure to be a part of. I built meaningful relationships with both the leaders and the candidates and my life on campus wasn’t the same after getting to know them all. It is my hope that everyone in the Manhattan University community will someday get to participate in the beautiful life-changing experience that is Kairos.
—Julia Galdiz, Class of 2017
Kairos really helped me to expand my personal horizons of reflection and self-awareness. I've grown as a person, and I can more confidently say that I know what is important to me.
—Christopher Hoey, Class of 2017
Creating a Kairos Retreat especially for MU students has been a rewarding experience in so many ways. Being able to reach people spiritually, emotionally, and socially holds significance beyond what my words can justify. Kairos is an indispensable opportunity for Manhattan University students, and I am thrilled for all future Kairos weekends and the people who will share the experience!
—Erica Rebussini, Class of 2017
LIFT/Kairos is An experience truly unlike any other, indescribable. It's about self discovery and self acceptance. It's pure and it's real. You enter the weekend having absolutely no idea what you're walking into and leave refreshed and bursting with happiness.
—Mary Burke, Class of 2017
The Kairos retreat was something I had no prior knowledge of and I think that was the reason it impacted my life so much. I learned a lot about myself, met a new group of best friends, and really found my place in the world. This retreat helped me to change the way I view myself, others, and the world around me.
—Brianna DelSanto
When I was first told about Kairos, I was reluctant since I had never heard of it before, and ended up being dragged to come by my friends. I am so thankful that I was pushed to go because it was an experience to escape that I had needed for some time. The stories you hear from everyone and the time you spend them create such a strong bond that will stay with you always. I promise you will not regret Kairos.
—John Fiore, Class of 2017
The retreat was transcending I believe for Manhattan University where it brought students from a wide range of areas together and shared an experience that everyone could benefit from and has given each and everyone of us people to hold strong to.
—Nicholas Weyland, Class of 2017
This retreat was life changing. I went into it skeptically and went home with a better attitude towards life and a positivity that I've never had before, as well as a refreshed sense of my faith. I couldn't wait to tell everyone I knew how fantastic it was and that they absolutely had to sign up for next year's retreat, and then I was incredibly giddy when they asked "well what do you do?" and I got to respond with "it's a secret!" Since coming back, many people have looked at me like I had two heads because I have been behaving so opposite of the generally pessimistic person they knew. The leaders were kind, welcoming, and prepared. It was incredibly clear how much effort they put into making the retreat as special for us as it was for them. Everyone on the retreat was kind, friendly, and open to what the retreat offered us, and I can never thank everyone involved in putting this together enough. This experience is something I will never forget, and I am greatly looking forward to the possibility of returning next year as a leader and giving others the same experience that I did.
—Anonymous
Definitely the best weekend of my life. It was such a great experience to bond with other Manhattan University students. Something I will never forget. It was so nice to take a break from school and truly spend time with new people.
—Anonymous
The best experience of my life. I encourage everybody to participate in a retreat like this at some point in their lives. It was life changing.
—Anonymous
I cannot believe the experience I had on this retreat. I am so happy that I went in blindly, because the surprises were very impactful. I honestly loved every single part of the retreat, and could easily call it one of the best weekends of my life. This was also different for me because I often feel that I have a leadership role in most of the extra-curricular activities, and events that I work with, so it was nice to just be a participant and let the leaders guide me. I would love to now share that with others now that I have experienced it once myself. There were so many incredible highlights for me on this retreat, and I cannot stop thinking about how happy I was the entire time. I am so glad I got the chance to meet everyone that I hadn't met before, and it made my closer with the friends that I had on the trip. This was a monumental experience and I hope that I don't forget the feelings of pure happiness I felt at Kairos 2016. And I thought that everything with overall organization ran very smoothly and seamlessly I must add!
—Anonymous
This experience was everything and more in terms of bringing my Manhattan University experience full circle before I depart.
—Anonymous