Michael Smith SJ

Earl's Court Station, platform one (where the Wimbledon trains go from) is where I was when I decided to become a Jesuit.  Not because it is a particularly mystical place, but because I'd just been to see my uncle, who is a priest.  We both knew that it would be hard for my parents to understand, and I'm not sure they ever did, but I knew I had their full support.  And so I left home at nineteen, to start my training firstly as a Jesuit, and then as a priest.

Almost all my working life as a Jesuit has been in education, mostly with school-age young people, but also with unemployed people looking for training.  I suppose, like most people who become involved in education, I hope that somehow, by helping them come to terms with themselves, their situation, the people they meet, the world in which they grow up and the image of God who cares for everything, and also by providing them with skills and qualifications - that through helping them to achieve all this I can help them to be happier and to share their strength, their skills and their good fortune with those who need it most.