“A pleasant surprise in my Jesuit formation was serving as a high school teacher in my regency experience. It was a job that I never imagined myself doing. However, to my complete surprise, I fell in love with it.”
Will serve as assistant to the president for mission at Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha, Nebraska, while pursuing graduate studies at Creighton University in educational leadership and Ignatian spirituality.
Bachelor’s degree, business administration, Xavier University; Master’s degree, social philosophy, Loyola University Chicago; Master of Divinity, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry
One thing that people may not know about me is that I spent a summer visiting and ministering to the people in the Kohima region of Northeast India. Months before the summer, the idea of traveling to the twinning region of the Midwest Province came to me in my prayer. It was not an experience I would have volunteered for on my own, but I felt a call from God to explore this opportunity. I expected it to be a challenging experience — being so far away from the comforts of home and adapting to a new place. However, to my complete surprise, it was truly a “fourth week of the Spiritual Exercises” experience for me — one full of God’s love and grace. It was actually the first time that I felt God’s love for me.
I have always grown up knowing God’s love for me and for others, initially as an intellectual concept, but it was through my encounter and sharing in the experiences of ministry with the people of the Kohima region where the love of God became a felt experience for me. Just simply being with the women and men throughout that region — from teaching in the classrooms to offering retreats to sharing in meals and conversation — I felt like I had experienced God through the people I was ministering to and with.
My favorite saint is Francis Xavier. As an undergraduate student at Xavier University, the story and experience of Francis Xavier’s missionary zeal was well incorporated into our transformative Jesuit education. I admire how Francis Xavier willingly gave himself to the mission of the Jesuits, responding readily to Ignatius Loyola’s request of him to travel to Asia. One of my most impactful spiritual experiences as a Jesuit was attending the celebration of a Mass next to the remains of Francis Xavier during a trip to Goa, India.
A pleasant surprise in my Jesuit formation was serving as a high school teacher in my regency experience. It was a very new experience for me and a job that I never imagined myself doing when I first entered the Society of Jesus. However, to my complete surprise, I fell in love with it. The students were wonderful, and I had excellent colleagues. For three years, I taught sophomore theology (ecclesiology) and algebra I to first-year students.
I also loved serving as the moderator for student government where I helped the students with hosting events to boost school spirit, creating fundraising and service opportunities for the local community, and planning the school dances. I also was honored to help lead students in academic study immersion programs visiting the Ignatian sites in Spain, France and Italy.
All in all, while I was the one tasked with teaching the students about theology and mathematics, they were the ones teaching me how to be a Jesuit priest. I am so grateful that I had an opportunity to serve for three years as a high school teacher during my Jesuit training.
While I have had many mentors in my journey, one mentor who stands out for me is Fr. Cyril Whitaker, SJ, who I had as a philosophy professor during my junior year at Xavier University. One day, I emailed him my assignment on Descartes, and he replied back in an email: “Thank you for your paper, Nick. By the way, have you ever thought about becoming a Jesuit priest?” It was his question that inspired me to begin my discernment — which led me to going on retreats, attending spiritual direction and praying with St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises — and ultimately led me to entering the Society of Jesus. It has been a pleasure to stay in touch with him throughout my Jesuit formation. His desire to bring people closer to Christ and his care for those he ministers to and with continue to serve as a positive example which I desire to follow in the Jesuit priest I hope to become.
