Marc P. Valadao, SJ, 36, grew up in Fort Bragg, California, the only child of Portuguese immigrants. After graduating from high school in 1998, he crossed the country to attend Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Although Valadao had considered priesthood since he was a child, his time at Georgetown opened his heart to the possibility of a Jesuit vocation. After earning a bachelor’s degree in foreign service in 2002, Valadao stayed in the nation’s capital for two years to work for the National Endowment for Democracy, while also discerning his vocation. At Syracuse University in New York, he earned a master’s degree in international relations with a focus on migration policy in Europe and also spent six months working for Jesuit Refugee Service in Brussels. His discernment complete, he entered the Jesuits in 2006 and taught world history and economics at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco as a novice. At Fordham University in the Bronx, New York, Valadao earned a master’s degree in philosophical resources in 2011. He was then missioned to Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix, where he taught Scripture, sacraments and philosophy while serving as a junior varsity soccer coach, moderating the Broncos for Life club and accompanying a group of students to World Youth Day in Brazil. Valadao considers his time at Brophy the most formative of his life as a Jesuit thus far. In 2013, he was missioned to Berkeley, California, to the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology while doing ministry at San Quentin State Prison and serving as a deacon both there and at Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Turlock, California. Following ordination, Valadao will work toward a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. His first Mass as a priest will be celebrated at Our Lady of the Assumption. (California Province)