By Amabelle Nguyen ‘25

Last week, Sophomore Breakaway Days provided students with an opportunity for reflection and retreat. On one of these days, the Class of 2025 Basilisks boarded buses for the long ride to visit the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

Through this interdisciplinary field trip, Art Matters, sophomores were able to connect beautiful artwork to pillars in their own lives including their personal identity, their ideology, their universe of obligation and more. 

Some of the current displays at the de Young include Hung Liu: Golden Gate, Lhola Amira: Facing the Future, and Richard Diebenkorn in Color at Crown Point Press. These showcases featured a variety of creative mediums including murals, sculptures, textiles and oil paintings. Students freely explored the gorgeous exhibits over the course of two hours while analyzing what they saw, what they thought and what they wondered about.

The Basilisks spent the second breakaway day at the Center for Education and Spirituality, a Dominican Sisters monastery in Fremont. Led in reflection by teachers and student leaders from the junior and senior classes, sophomores took a nature walk, decorated cups inspired by Japanese tea ceremonies, and participated in a team bonding activity.