USD-Magazine-Spring-2025

FAITH IN ACTION

The Gift of Guidance In Walk to Emmaus, a popular post-resurrection account within the Gospel of Luke, Jesus appears before two disciples as an unknown traveler and patiently guides them in their faith. For Jessica Hooper ’03 (BA), the story truly signifies what faith in action means.

Photos: Adam Richins Photography

Hooper is the head of school at Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart in Boston and has spent her entire professional career working in Catholic education. She began her journey as a middle school teacher, first at St. Therese Academy and then Stella Maris Academy. Next, she became assistant head of school at the Academy of Our Lady of Peace and then president of Nativity Prep Academy, the only tuition-free independent school in Southern California focused on supporting first-generation students from low-income families. Through the Torero Promise at the University of San Diego, sixth graders at Nativity Prep — who may be academically behind their grade level — commit to additional instruction and summer coursework to prepare for high school and for future success in college. In return, the school supports these students financially and through teaching and mentorship for the 11 years between middle school and college graduation. The program, which has currently seen two cohorts graduate from USD, is a powerful example of putting one’s faith in action, said Hooper. “You take the hand of a sixth grader, and you don’t let

go until they graduate from college. There is something incredibly meaningful for me to see that journey. It’s why I became an educator and why I remain an educator.” Hooper, whose father was an academic, moved several times as a young child. She attended middle and high school in Bend, Oregon, before coming to USD, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in humanities with an emphasis in theology and religious studies. “I grew up in a family where faith was of high value and a core identity, so being at a Catholic university was my top priority,” she said. “When I came to visit USD, there it stood in all its glory on the hill, with the Pacific Ocean. But I also liked that it was a small campus. I felt a sense of community, even as a prospective student.” The move from a small Pacific Northwest town to San Diego was not without its growing pains, Hooper said. What made the difference was finding her community by embracing opportunities, especially volunteering and working within University Ministry. “For me, the faith element had already been important in my life, so it was a natural place where I could go find a smaller community in a bigger system and feel like I could be myself. It was such a

24 | University of San Diego Magazine