On Wednesday, April 15, 2026, the Sophomore Class underwent an elaborate, carefully tailored retreat, continuing a long-practiced, yearly tradition in for the spring. Though every class participates in their own retreat, the Sophomore retreat leans into reflection how they have grown spiritually, morally and within their community.
A Retrospective Retreat
In order to maintain the retreat’s personal, introspective nature, students were separated into small groups, each led by a faculty member. To begin, together in the Terry Center, students were drawn to their past selves with responses to various Jesuit Dallas application questions they answered as eighth graders, a past characterized by grammatical incoherence and the abuse of unnecessary, “fancy” words to unsuccessfully impress others. These responses detailed a student’s perceived strengths and weaknesses at the time based on the tenants of the Jesuit Profile.
“I found it interesting to see where I was because I had forgotten everything I’d written in eighth grade, and looking back on it, it gave me a really clear picture about how far I’ve come, a large part due to the formation that Jesuit has been able to give me.” – Trey Massey ’28
Students journaled about how they’d grown since then, what their new strengths and weaknesses were and how their talents and passions had shifted. After that, Andre Cornejo ’26 spoke about his rugged journey and perseverance through having to “start over” twice, outlining his battle against injuries, first removing him from cycling and running, then from wrestling. Despite disheartenment, though, he continued to strive for a light at the end of the tunnel, ultimately finding himself as a star in the Jesuit theater program. Then, sophomores congregated into their groups and intimately discussed their development as an individual since eighth grade, as well as their experience with “starting over” as Andre had described.
As a way to give students a way to move around while remaining in a state of reflection, participants moved on to assemble on the football field for the next activity, a living survey, positioning themselves on yard lines corresponding to a 1-10 scale and expressing their current feelings pertaining to influence, strengths, weaknesses, and inclusion in the Jesuit community. Students broke into groups again to reflect on how they answered before coming together in the Terry Center to listen to speeches by Kevin Nazareth ’26 and Mr. Kenneth Gan, elaborating on the “true self” from personal and theological perspectives respectively. This conversation thoughtfully introduced the notion of a “true self,” a journey of fulfilling one’s God-given purpose.
A panel of seniors also vulnerably answered questions about their religious development at Jesuit, coming from Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths as well as the importance of fostering strong relationships with family while attending high school.
“[The retreat was] an enjoyable opportunity to discuss my spiritual life and hear about the spiritual life of my students.” – Mr. Trost
The retreat concluded with a period of time for reconciliation and conversation with senior peers, followed by a dedicated mass led by Fr. Polce, S.J and Fr. Deutsch, S.J., covering themes of development in scripture.
An Interview with Kevin Nazareth ’26
Behind this elaborate tapestry of activities and themes lies brilliant, diligent planning. With great pleasure, I had the opportunity to interview Kevin Nazareth ’26, a key figure behind the organization and execution of this event.
How have your experiences at Jesuit reflected themes of “starting over” and finding your “true self?”
“All throughout Jesuit, some doors close, but always, new opportunities open to students all the time. I moved to Dallas back in my eighth-grade year, and honestly, I didn’t enjoy it. And coming to Jesuit, I knew basically no one, so I was really starting over then. One thing I found about Jesuit is that as long as you take initiate, starting over isn’t scary. It shouldn’t be. It’s all about doing what you can to find your true self.”
What advice would you give people trying to better assimilate themselves to the Jesuit Profile, and trying to find their “true self?”
“I would definitely say to live in the moment. So often, we go through the day and it’s like a daze; just get class and get the day over with. You shouldn’t think of it like that. If you truly want to grow in the Jesuit Profile and become a true man for others, you need to take initiative and take an active role in your life. Don’t just participate in things, activities, responsibilities, or even jobs [just] because you want the prestige, but rather you should out of love and enjoyment. Otherwise, you’ll get burnt out.”
What is the most valuable piece of advice that you would tell your sophomore self-knowing what you know now?
“I would definitely say the most valuable piece of advice I could give is…to trust. Trust that the things you do now are going to pay off. You still have so much longer to go, and it really does feel like high school’s tough, four whole years of just grinding. But trust that it will pay off, and trust that when you do fall, that people will have your back, because after all, we’re a community.”
What did planning this retreat look like? What were your inspirations?
“It was really interesting because all of us come from really different aspects of Jesuit, from team captains on completely different teams to me, being the president of Jesuit Stage and Film, and also our variety of different faith lives and ethnicities. So, we really had a lot of different perspectives come into play when creating this retreat and I think that really contributed to the final product. The students had big ideas, and the faculty were able to make those into a reality, shown through the football activity and the group panel. That was awesome.”
Finally, after this retreat, what would you like this sophomore class and future Jesuit classes to walk away with?
“The main thing I want people to walk away with is that, and I know it’s easy to say and hard to do, they should really not stress so much about the future. During my sophomore year, I was stressing out about college because I was applying the next year and I thought it would help me be more prepared. And I get it but just control what you can in the moment and don’t worry so much about the future; you have plenty of time. I would also say to get comfortable being uncomfortable. So many of our experiences at Jesuit, throughout your four years, are going to put you in uncomfortable situations, whether it’s a retreat, academics, service or volunteer work. Jesuit [has] made [it] so that your boundaries are pushed, and so that you grow to find your true self and become a man for others.”
Many thanks to Kevin Nazareth ’26 for his generous interview!
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