Mr. Nicholas Hurt, a Sacraments and Christian Morality religion teacher and one of the many new teachers this year at Cathedral Catholic High School, recently moved from Portland, Oregon to sunny San Diego. Originally from the Midwest, born in Michigan and raised in Indiana, Mr. Hurt plans on spending many more years in Southern California. Traveling has been a major part of his life, growing up and also as an adult, including his recent move to San Diego for his wife Mary’s job. Settling down permanently is one of the Hurts’ first priorities.

During his high school years at Terre Haute High School located in Indiana, Mr. Hurt participated in many school-related sports and activities including tennis during his sophomore, junior, and senior year. Believe it or not, Mr. Hurt also participated in men’s cheerleading. “We were called The Basemen,” he says. “We built pyramids and cheered for our high school’s football team. I went to every single game.” Aside from his more athletic side, Mr. Hurt was a member of the Science Olympiad team, the French Club, his high school youth group, and Campus Ministry. Teaching at Cathedral Catholic High School, Mr. Hurt is “reminded daily of his own high school memories.”

After graduating high school, Mr. Hurt felt determined to become a lawyer, and later decided instead to take pre-med classes in college. When accepted at Boston College, Mr. Hurt began his class in pre-med; however, he eventually dropped out of the class knowing it was not right for him. Mr. Hurt then decided to pursue a theology major. Towards the end of college, Mr. Hurt fell in love with teaching.

According to Mr. Hurt, college was an amazing experience. “I recommend Boston as a city for college. I loved Boston College. It took me a while, though. I liked it, but I didn’t fall in love with it until my sophomore year. I was always nervous and shy.” It may come as a surprise that Mr. Hurt says it was harder for him to be away from his parents than he expected It was “exhilarating and terrifying to be leaving them,” he said.

During college, Mr. Hurt was still heavily involved in Campus ministry, and also was a member of Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), a service program where college graduates teach at under researched schools. In addition to this, Mr. Hurt was a resident adviser (RA) in the dorms his junior year. Finally, after college, Mr. Hurt attended Notre Dame in Indiana, receiving a Masters Degree in education.

Mr. Hurt has had strong religious connections throughout most of his life, particularly during and after college. As he was raised in a Catholic family, he went to Church on some occasions growing up, and participated in Campus Ministry during high school and college.

However, when his brother, Jon-Paul, got into a serious car accident, Mr. Hurt remembers how much the accident affected his family, bringing everyone closer to God. Still today, Mr. Hurt, his parents, and his brother are actively involved in the Church. Mr. Hurt is thrilled to be working as a religion teacher here at CCHS. “I certainly feel I’m living my vocation,” he said.

After college, Mr. Hurt moved to Texas where he taught at his first official high school teaching job for seven years. There, Mr. Hurt not only taught religion classes, but was also the leader of Campus Ministry for the school. In Dallas, Texas, Mr. Hurt met his wife.

After getting married, Mr. Hurt and Ms. Sullivan, having not changed her maiden name, moved to Portland, Oregon. Mr. Hurt satd, “It was fabulous living in Portland. It’s a very cool city; however, since we lived in the middle of nowhere, the isolation made us realize we wanted to be closer to family.” Mrs. Hurt got a job offer in San Diego, prompting their move a year later. Although he grew up in the Midwest, Mr. Hurt finds the West Coast to be less reserved and the people to be more open and friendly.

In his free time, Mr. Hurt enjoys mountain biking and long boarding, although he tore his ACL last year. His current goals are to finish his Ph.D in religion at Fordham University in New York City and perhaps teach at college level in the near future.

Like many people, Mr. Hurt loves to travel. This past summer, Mr. Hurt and his wife went to Alaska and New York City. In 2003, Mr. Hurt visited a friend from Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland, and in 2009, Mr. Hurt went on a pilgrimage to Israel. He says, “I’ve always wanted to experience the Holy Land. I don’t read the Bible the same way [since visiting] the places where Jesus walked.” Mr. Hurt also enjoys going on service trips, as during college he participated in trips to Tijuana and Cuernavaca and Trujillo, Honduras.

Mr. Hurt shares some final advice for high school students, especially those getting ready to graduate. He said, “Discover who you are first. It’s important to have a goal and a plan, but you need to be open to change. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. What are you good at? What brings you joy? And what does the world need you to do?” Quoting Confucius, Mr. Hurt said, “If you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life.”