MY PERSPECTIVE
JESUIT PERSPECTIVES • FALL 2019 47
When I was a shy, awkward
freshman at
Jesuit High School in
the 1970s, little did I know that I
would someday return and teach
at my alma mater for more than
three decades.
It was a chance encounter
with ��rnie Charette ’����, a favorite
Jesuit English teacher, at a
bookstore that no longer exists
in a mall that no longer exists
that alerted me to the job that
has de��ned my professional life.
I returned to a place to which I
thought I would never return,
and I stayed and stayed and
stayed and stayed.
It was sobering when I started
to see the sons of former classmates
in my classroom. Now I
commonly hear, “You taught my
dad.”
Over the years much has
changed at Jesuit, and the last
several years have seen sweeping
changes. New buildings to meet
new demands have sprouted all
over campus. Technology has
been implemented and applied.
My chalkboard has been replaced
by an iPad, and students
with their digital texts make
lockers seem obsolete.
��cademics have expanded and
the school’s ��dvanced Placement
����P�� offerings, as well as student
participation, have grown exponentially.
Our high ��P scores are
the envy of other schools.
Happily, I have had the opportunity
to bene��t from these
changes as it was always a dream
to teach college level psychology.
I’m currently in my ��fth year
of teaching ��P Psychology. This
year, due to our recent collaboration
with Saint ��ouis ��niversity,
my 114 psychology students
have the additional option of
taking the course directly for
college credit as I play the role of
their adjunct professor.
In the midst of all these changes,
however, there has always
been a thread that weaves a
continuity in the Jesuit experience.
The themes of brotherhood,
faith, excellence, and
service continue to pervade the
culture. Dear friends and gifted
colleagues who have left have
been replaced by new ones who
are equally passionate and dedicated.
I’m always amazed that,
even decades after they leave,
students and colleagues still ��nd
an anchor in their Jesuit experience.
This place is a touchstone,
a place of identity and connection.
This was apparent recently as
two of my great former colleagues,
Frank ��lende and John
Szponar, neither of whom have
worked at Jesuit for decades, had
their funeral services on campus.
It was obvious this place
had been special to them as
family, friends, and former students
and colleagues gathered to
honor their memory.
The anchor that is the Jesuit experience
was also evident a few
years ago when a former classmate
of mine, John Hamilton ’77,
returned to the school. John had
attended Jesuit with the bene��t
of ��nancial aid and had moved
on to great success in business.
In a special assembly, he donated
$1 million to the school, and
toward the school’s ��nancial aid
program.
��s I stood in the crowd, impressed
by John’s accomplishments
and generosity, I couldn’t
help but think, “What have I
done with my life?”
Maybe this answer will suf��ce.
Some are called to use their Jesuit
experience to excel in their
profession and to accomplish
great things in ��eld and community.
Many of these return
to Jesuit as benefactors to build
and to ��ll our walls. Others are
called to build within the walls,
to facilitate the formation of
young men, foster academic
excellence, help them moor to
an anchor. Building within the
walls of Jesuit hasn’t been a bad
way to spend a life.
BILL
EGGERT '77
PE
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the faculty at
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has been
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