George D. Teodoro, SJ, 36, is from Renton, Washington, just south of Seattle. A classically trained competitive pianist, he played in the jazz and concert band in high school and was also a member of the swim team and an Eagle Scout. Teodoro first met the Jesuits at Seattle University and was immediately struck by how present they were in the lives of students. When he wasn’t studying, Teodoro sang in the liturgical choir, swam for the university team and served as a retreat leader. It was during a discernment retreat that the thought of a Jesuit vocation first entered his mind. After graduating in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in history, Teodoro put his vocational discernment on hold so he could study in Australia as a Rotary Scholar. When he returned to Seattle, he embarked on a career in real estate but found that his call to the Jesuits was so strong that he applied and was accepted to the Society in 2005. As a novice, he worked at a L’Arche community, where people with and without intellectual disabilities live together as peers. At Fordham University in the Bronx, New York, Teodoro earned a master’s degree in philosophy and, later, a master’s degree in history from the University of Toronto. Missioned to Seattle Preparatory School for two years, he taught classics and Asian studies, worked in campus ministry and directed liturgical music. At the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California, he earned a Master of Divinity degree while serving at St. Columba Parish in Oakland, where he was also the interim director of the church’s Gospel Choir. His Jesuit formation has included language studies in Colombia and Indonesia, service to the elderly with Catholic Community Services in Seattle and studies in music composition. For the past year, Teodoro has taught history and art history at Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles, where he will return after ordination. His first Masses as a Jesuit priest will be celebrated with his brother Jesuits at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parish in Spokane, and, later, at his home parish of St. Anthony’s in Renton. (Oregon Province)