This year at Jesuit, we have added twelve new members to our community who come from all around the world. In addition to a few from the Dallas area, there are students from Oregon, Mexico, and even Australia. These students have spent the last few months acclimating to the new environment and to Jesuit’s open door policy with the teachers. There are no additions to the senior class this year; however, there are four new faces to the junior class and eight to the sophomore class. While they may have missed out on some of the freshman traditions, like name tags, they are finding it easy to mesh with the other students and work with the teachers.
Michael Soliman ’16 said that “getting used to the new school system and being able to catch up” were the most difficult parts of integrating into Jesuit. Nicholas Dart ’16 cited the openness of the teachers and the willingness of the entire community to help as tools that helped him make the transition that much easier. “Everybody is really kind… they are just really interested in who you are,” said Eduardo Cadaval ’16. The mixture of help from both the students and teachers is a large change for many transfer students, with the open door concept not very common in many schools around the country. Mr. Host, Head of Admission, said, “The most difficult part of transferring in seems to be the academic adjustment. Even the very brightest students tend to be challenged at first.”
In regards to students who previously attended a Jesuit school and their chances at admissions, Maureen Miramontes, a Jesuit admissions staff member, said that “if you went to a Jesuit school, and are applying, then you will most likely be admitted.” The admissions process makes sure that Jesuit students around the world are taken care of by the other Jesuit schools. Mr. Host added, “Priority is given to students moving to Dallas from another Jesuit high school.” Mrs. Miramontes explained that there are a myriad of things that Jesuit does to integrate the new students, such as Mentor Moms and making sure the transfer students know one another before the school year begins.
“I wasn’t really that religious, but the theology classes have paid off,” said Eduardo, who shared how big of an impact the community can have on someone in such a short amount of time. This impact is exactly what Jesuit is striving to achieve in the Profile of the Jesuit Graduate at Graduation. Dart added to this idea, explaining that he had never really taken theology that seriously until he was challenged this year in the Sacraments, Morality, and Justice class, in which students must respond to some thought-provoking questions and participate in discussions about issues that are prevalent in society.
The changes from previous schools, and for some, countries, have been quite large. “The school I went to in Mexico, we were 80. Here we are 282 in our class, it’s been sort of challenging getting to know everyone but making friends hasn’t been particularly hard,” said Eduardo. Nicholas Dart agreed with Eduardo, saying, “It’s been really easy to just sit down next to someone you’ve never met and strike up a conversation.” These 12 new students have been integrating into Jesuit quite well, joining as many clubs as possible so as to meet as many people as possible. For instance, Eduardo has joined the Paper for Water Club and Shehryar Almakky ’16 and Nicholas Dart have joined the Model United Nations club, among others.
After spending the past few months getting used to the Jesuit Dallas system, the transfer students have generally found it to be hard, yet satisfying, discovering many new friends and activities that they would not have found had they not moved. These students have been welcomed into the community with open arms, and Michael Soliman advises future transfer students to just “be patient, stay focused, and communicate with your teachers,” and the rest will solve itself. Mr. Host said that “I do think that Jesuit students are very welcoming and open to the new students.” On the whole, being open to growth includes being open to new experiences which can only be had by meeting new people.
