First Studies aims to be an integrated formation experience in which newly-vowed Jesuits continue to grow into their religious lives by deepening their spirituality, committing to a rigorous intellectual formation, and developing significant relationships with the people God sends into their lives—particularly the most vulnerable. The locus of integration for the many and varied activities comprising First Studies is the community in which we live: Ciszek Hall Jesuit Residential College. It is here that Jesuits will have continual opportunities to weave together their studies (formal and informal), their praxis engagements, their spiritual exercises, and their development as human beings learning to live the vowed life. For centuries cura personalis has been a hallmark of Jesuit education. In this instance, cura personalis means committing to the notion that our formation as human beings is holistic—not finally separable into this or that element but rather integrated into the process of becoming a “whole” person.
