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By Riley McCormick and Sara Patti
 Friendships became stronger, memories were made, and many, many photos were taken. Senior Pilgrimage is once in a life time journey that is shared with your graduating high school class. Seniors will never forget these three days.
Day one: The class met up at Regina at six a.m.! Yes six a.m. The bus ride was an experience in itself.
The first stop was at Shanksville, PA, which is where the Flight 93 Memorial is located.There a group of seniors presented a short but very moving prayer service. “The site was very real and was impossible to imagine what happened, and my heart goes out to those families,” said senior Mary-Jane King.
The plan for that night was to arrive at the hotel, freshen up and change into our dress clothes for the Lazy Susan Dinner Theater. The class of ’09 did not have that good fortune. About a half hour after Shanksville there was a blow out and the bus got a flat tire. At first the girls were fine, but after the first hour passed, people started getting anxious and irritated. It took two-and-a-half hours to get the tire changed. By then, everybody was ready to get the show on the road. We ended up going right to the dinner theatre dressed as we were. The class was in good spirits, and the night ended well.
Day two: Everyone toured the White House. After that, the class moved on to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. A couple of the seniors presented a short prayer service, and everyone received crosses as a symbol of the Pilgrimage. The class proceeded out to the front steps of the Shrine and took the annual class picture.
The activities for the rest of the afternoon included a visit to Union Station to eat, a tour of Capitol Hill, FDR Memorial, World War II Memorial, Pentagon Memorial.
Night time activities were going to a local mall for a couple hours. Then, the class moved on to night tours of the Lincoln, Jefferson, Korean, and Vietnam memorials. After that, the class retired to their rooms, to hang out together and talk.
Day three: The seniors headed to Arlington Cemetery to watch the changing of the guards and the wreath-laying Ceremony. Regina has the privilege every year to present a wreath to the military, in honor of those who suffered and died for our country.
Later in the morning, there was an outdoor Mass held in the Arlington Amphitheater. One of the highlights for the trip was brunch at Fort Myers Officers’ Club. Everyone enjoyed breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time!
The last and final stop was the tour of the museums. The seniors got to pick between the Holocaust and the Smithsonian. Senior Shannon Weems said, “I knew what the Holocaust was, but the museum really hit me on how real it was and how many people it affected.”
The trip came to an end; all the seniors boarded the bus to head back to Cleveland. The bus arrived back at Regina High School around one in the morning.
Everyone was looking forward to the trip as freshmen. The trip arrived sooner than we thought and was over before we knew it. “After spending over seventy-two hours with over 50 classmates one is bound to form tighter bonds and great memories,” said senior Bridget Lamb.
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