A former Student at Hekima and now a Faculty Member and Looking Forward to the New Academic Year: Fr. Benedict Ebogu Shares his Amazing Experience.
In the Jesuit tradition, a Jesuit does not have a job but receives a mission. This is the perspective with which I arrived at Hekima University College to join the team of other Jesuits in mission along with our esteemed and dedicated collaborators and friends. Coincidentally, on many occasions, I begin my day in the office with Ennio Morricone’s Gabriel’s Oboe, from the soundtrack of the 1986 British drama film The Mission.
My return to Hekima after a little over a decade of graduation as a student was met with a gentle and delightful mystique of zero time—it was as if no time had elapsed since my departure as a student and my return as a teacher. Nevertheless, I felt a deep and palpable sense of welcome from the ancestors, staff, and students on my arrival. I returned to a place I loved.
As a student, Hekima was my space and still is, but I now walk within this space with a deep sense of gratitude for all I had received from my lecturers, some of whom have passed on, like Fr. Aquiline S. Tarimo and Fr. Laurenti Magesa, and those who are still in active service. I also admire the fact that I am now part of the HUC staff, along with my former co-students, Marcel and Norbert, with whom I rushed to lectures and participated in what was then known as Hekima Symposiums.
My first six months at HUC were a time when I deliberately kept my cool and took a watcher’s gaze to see, understand, and learn the dynamics of being “a student” from the other side of the classroom and also observe the pleasant dynamics of collaboration with others in mission. This disposition proved to be very insightful. If I were to summarize my experience at HUC so far in one word, it would be joy! And if it were in two words, it would be an unexpected joy!
Tomorrow is a dance. As I look forward to the new academic year, the courses I will be teaching and co-teaching will cover different areas of theology and spirituality. Consequently, the days ahead promise to be an enriching teaching and interactive experience.
However, my mission at HUC is not just teaching; it also involves being present with others and participating in other important academic and non-academic activities of the institute and beyond. There might also be moments of “Emmaus walk” with others, in the spirit of synodality in the church today, wherein pleasant and unexpected moments may spring upon us as Kairos gifts for the entire HUC community. So, with these anticipations, let the new academic year begin!
Fr. Benedict Ebogu, SJ