Ever to Excel Engages High School Students in Spiritual Exercises
Friday, August 2, 2019
For the fourth year in a row, the Institute’s Ever to Excel program drew high school students from around the world for a week of Ignatian-based reflection, conversation, and fun. The event ran from July 26 to August 2, with participants living on the Boston College campus and working with undergraduate Mentors to grow in a spirit of faith and mission. This year, 185 students from 27 states and five countries attended, making the 2019 program the largest yet.
Participants had plenty to keep them busy—they were greeted with a robust program that balanced reflection, prayer, games, service, and presentations from some of Boston College’s noted staff and clergy. Through this variety of approaches, the program introduced students to the riches of Jesuit spirituality and its applications to their daily lives.
“One of the benefits of Catholicism is that our Catholicity contains within it a huge variety of spiritualities,” said program director Fr. Casey Beaumier, S.J. “Ever to Excel gives a very good opportunity for young people to encounter one of the spiritualities of Catholicism…with the hope that [it] might come to the assistance of someone as she or he grows. [It’s meant] to plant the seed, or to affirm already, the attraction to a particular charism.”
The introduction to this Ignatian spirit was offered through presentations on daily themes; topics included foundation and identity, the discernment of spirits, and mission and service, among others. The speakers, mostly drawn from the Boston College faculty, brought centuries-old traditions of Ignatian thought into the context of students’ everyday experiences. The subjects of their talks were wide-ranging—Fr. Pat Nolan, S.J., spoke about the lives and personalities of the founding Jesuits, while BC alumnus Ariel Laguilles recounted his recent feat of running the 400-mile Camino Ignaciano in eight days.
By providing for individual discussion, the program also allowed participants to process the insights provided by presenters. Small groups, each with ten students and two Mentors, became a place of conversation and affirmation as participants reflected on their own lives.
“The program is so special because [the] Mentors are fully devoted to guiding the high school [students] along whatever spiritual journey they desire to pursue,” said Clara Cahill Farella, a third-time Mentor. “To show them the potential for human friendships and even for a personal relationship with God is a major goal of our work at Ever to Excel.”
Groups also provided a chance for participants to connect with peers from around the world. Ever to Excel drew students from Japan, Ireland, Venezuela, Jamaica, and 27 states across the U.S., allowing participants a glimpse at the universality of faith and Jesuit spirituality.
“[The Japanese students] are very, very interested in learning, ‘What does it mean to be at a Jesuit school? …What is that distinctiveness?’” said Fr. Beaumier of the participants from a Jesuit high school in Tokyo.
The service day also helped to expand the students’ perspectives. Throughout the week, The Church in the 21st Century Center Director Karen Kiefer highlighted the importance of “giving away” one’s gifts, talents, and education. In this spirit, participants spent a portion of their afternoon making rosaries, which were blessed and donated to a children’s hospital.
The program balanced its itinerary of prayer and reflection with plentiful opportunities for fun, recreation, and community. Students toured the Boston College campus, took a trolley through the historic city, played lawn games, and celebrated the feast of St. Ignatius. Every night closed with a quiet candlelight Mass before students returned to their rooms.
The program directors hope that the week of reflection, renewal, and service will continue to inspire students after they return home.
“Part of the goal is to make faith irresistible,” said Fr. Beaumier.
Applications for the 2020 program will open in March. Learn more.
