Regent Mark Bandsuch, SJ, taught business ethics and business law at the Boler School of Business at John Carroll University in Cleveland. His summers, like the summers of all Jesuits in formation, are busy and varied. Last summer he wrote an instructor's manual for a business-ethics text, published by Prentice Hall; this summer he is doing a clinical pastoral education program at the Cleveland Clinic, training for becoming a hospital chaplain.

School's out. Now what? It's difficult enough trying to make your average, run-of-the-mill summer plans. Do you go to Disney World or Disney Land? Hit the beach or head to Canada? Visit a big city or go for a wilderness experience?

Imagine if your summer activities could range from Spanish classes to ministry with the poor, to work on a master's degree, or to gaining some experience in giving retreats. These are among the many summertime choices young Jesuits make.

It's not a simple matter. A Jesuit's training can include seven or more years of university-level study, whether he is planning on being a priest or a brother. Classes wrap up in spring, but these Jesuits consider the summer months a continuation of their whole formation process. Since a major concern of Jesuits is that they remain "in the world," they try to strike a balance between intellectual activity in the classroom and day-to-day work with God's people.

For Joaquin "Boom" Martinez, SJ, who taught biology at Loyola High School in Los Angeles this last academic year, his experience last summer was to prepare him for that task. It did that and more. It actually took him back to his homeland, the Philippines, and back to his old school, the Ateneo de Manila, a Jesuit high school and university. Boom had graduated from high school there and was back to teach for the summer.

"It was weird," he says. "My former teachers were calling me 'Mister' while the students kept calling me 'the California Jesuit.' It was strange going from student to teacher and hearing myself referred to that way. The school and its surroundings hadn't changed that much since I was last there -- fourteen years ago -- and that made it a little bit more difficult.

"But then that's the whole point of formation. I was able to go back and see my old school through different eyes. It was an exciting experience," says Martinez, who is taking classes this summer at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles toward his teaching credential.

These summer experiences can be important transitions between a Jesuit's classroom studies and his next assignment.

Photographer Tan Pham, SJ, took part in a workshop of Jesuits in the Arts at Creighton University in Omaha last summer. He spent this last school year studying and living with fellow Jesuit scholastics at Gonzaga University in Spokane, where he is in philosophy studies. He also completed two photography books for Prentice Hall, including one on refugees. This summer he will be in Guadalajara, teaching English to Mexican Jesuit scholastics.

"There are approximately seven summers from the time a man takes first vows after the novitiate years until ordination," points out Fr. Joseph Lingan, SJ, rector of St. Michael's Institute, a community for Jesuit scholastics at Gonzaga University in Spokane. "Obviously that number is different for those seeking brotherhood. It's important to assess the situation of the man and match it with his particular goal. Some men need a Third World experience while others are called to do something else.

"There's a transition from one's vows, where the man, right out of the novitiate, is eager to serve but faces the fact that his first mission is to study philosophy. It can be tough because it teaches the man to learn to think. Then he is put into an apostolic setting and gets into the world and now applies his critical thinking skills to a particular situation. He discovers that not every problem can be addressed intellectually."

Larry Huck, SJ, a brother from New Orleans who is working on a BA in history at Creighton University in Omaha, spent time during this last school year helping out at a day care center in town. Last summer he was in Guatemala, studying Spanish; this summer he is at Strake Jesuit High in Houston, doing some electrical rewiring to turn a classroom into a computer room.

Planning for the summers begins around the previous Christmas, when province formation directors, those who oversee the training and development of Jesuits, put together a "summer menu," a listing of jobs, positions, ministries, workshops, and classes, literally all over the world. Jesuits in formation look over the opportunities and talk with their local superiors and formation directors about the ideas and dreams they have for their future ministries. The process results in individualized plans.

Every province has its own objectives for its scholastics' and brothers' summer experiences, but some requirements remain consistent for Jesuits in formation coast to coast.

Marty Hosking, SJ, (center, in white hat) and Mike Johnson, SJ, (on right) helped out one past summer as counselors at a camp for Milwaukee's Nativity Jesuit Middle School students. Marty has completed his first year of studies at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass., and is working this summer with Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ, in Los Angeles, helping gang members get placed in jobs. Mike finished philosophy studies at Gonzaga in Spokane in May and will attend a workshop this summer preparing to teach at Marquette University High in Milwaukee in the fall.

First, they must learn Spanish. "The superior general has asked every Jesuit to be proficient in Spanish and English," says Fr. Francis Daly, SJ, Chicago Province's formation director. "It helps build fraternity and international cooperation in the Society of Jesus through these common languages. And from a practical point of view, the United States is experiencing a heavy influx of Hispanic peoples. It's important for Jesuits to be able to converse and minister the sacraments to these Spanish-speaking groups." Summers are good times for Jesuits to spend a few weeks in language-immersion programs in places such as Guadalajara, living with families while in intensive study. (By the way, Jesuits from the Mexico Province have come north for English-language programs at Santa Clara University.)

The second common goal for Jesuits at this stage is to gain experience directing retreats, and summer is a good time for retreat workshops, studying the Spiritual Exercises, and working with a spiritual advisor to deepen an individual's faith journey.

Third, many use summer to do direct work with the poor, often in Third World settings. "These missions broaden the Jesuits' experience with the international Society and deepen the experiences of life with the poor," says Fr. James Kubicki, SJ, Wisconsin Province's formation director. "Summer opportunities are ways for them to be immersed in the concerns of the poor in a way that they can't be when they are in studies."

Some Jesuits' summer works involve going abroad. Michael Bellafiore, SJ, spent last summer on a journey through Europe "in preparation to write and act in a one-man show on the life of Ignatius," he says. "I traveled throughout Spain, then to Paris, Lourdes, and Rome." This summer he will be going to study Spanish in Cochabamba, Bolivia, where he will also work with the poor.

Others find their assignments in their own back yard. James Kelly, SJ, spent the last few summers stateside, teaching in a variety of settings. "I've taught at Gesu Grammar School in Philadelphia, Loyola Blakefield High in Baltimore, and St. Martin of Tours in the Bronx. There's a summer teaching training program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles that will help me hone my teaching skills that I'll be using at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., this fall," he says.

Christopher Frechette, SJ, just finished his first year at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass. His "Jesuit" summers have included studying classical Greek at the University of California Berkeley and studying Spanish in Guatemala. This summer he will be studying German in Frankfurt and, later, attending a conference at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles for Jesuits going into higher education.

Learning Spanish in Bolivia -- picking up knowledge of retreat direction and the Spiritual Exercises at the Jesuit Spirituality Center in Guelph, Ontario -- working with the poor at St. Procopius Parish in inner-city Chicago -- such experiences are typical but necessary parts of the process that leads a Jesuit to an understanding of the Society of Jesus' range and his place in it.

"We must remember that the charism of the Jesuits is to go wherever we are needed and to serve," says Fr. Ralph Huse, SJ, rector of Bellarmine House of Studies at St. Louis University. "For some men travel to a foreign land is very challenging. They need to grow in freedom, to learn to trust especially when they are in an environment where they are not in control. The early Jesuits also traveled to where they were needed, and the questions for Jesuits today are, Can I go where I am needed? Can I fit in?"

Fr. Lingan agrees. "We mission men to their summer assignments. We want the men to know that the Society of Jesus is sending them, whether to a Third World country or an inner-city center, to do work. They're going in the name of the Society to minister to the people and to learn."

There are financial considerations that get factored in to this equation of what Jesuits do during summers, however. University education isn't cheap, and for many Jesuits working on degrees it is important that they spend their summers getting those degrees as quickly as possible. "Some Jesuits need to finish their degrees to get to work," says Fr. Daly. "If someone has to finish a BA or get an MA so that they can teach, the summer is the time they do it."

After a Jesuit returns to his home community and prepares for another school year, it's important that he be able to reflect on his experiences with fellow Jesuits. Fr. Kenneth Caufield, SJ, rector of Ciszek Hall, a residence for Jesuit scholastics at Fordham University in the Bronx, says, "No matter where they are, they must be able to 'debrief' their experiences. They need to talk about not only what happened but also how it fit into their individual spiritual growth, Jesuit identity, and love for the Kingdom of God."

Each Jesuit will talk these issues over with his superior, and many scholastic communities devote entire weekends to getting away and discussing their experiences with each other.

"How have I changed? How has my identity been affected? How have I grown? These are the questions they ask and answer," says Fr. Huse. "Sometimes ministry is difficult, and challenges arise. The question then becomes not What do I do? but Why do I do it? Why am I part of the Society of Jesus? Why do I want to be a brother? We look at what's going on in the man."'

No matter where they are in their training, no matter what ministry theyre doing, each Jesuit is still faced with the personal challenge of bringing God's word to those who need to hear it most. It may be by working with children in the slums of Peru or it may be by quietly studying next to a fellow student in the university library. Regardless, each man has a responsibility to make sure he is living the gospel.

Bernard McAniff, SJ, wrote in his journal after teaching in China last summer: "We have made friends in China; phone numbers were thrust upon us for us to call when we return here. This has been a privileged moment. Curiosity has been aroused about our sense of dedication. China is a nation that moves in centuries, not decades, but let us not contain the work of the spirit."

Brigid Barry, former Company magazine associate editor, wrote "Sanctuaries," an article about Jesuit church restoration, in the Winter '94 issue. She, her husband Mark, and children Catharine and Joseph live in Chicago.