Keeping Faith In College
By Maddie Wiley, FaithCounts.com Contributor
Transitioning to college life can be overwhelming and scary for everyone. Keeping your faith while attending classes, making friends and getting used to living on your own is hard! Whether you’re starting college this fall or you’re almost done with your degree, here are four college students’ perspectives on keeping your faith in college.
Rahul: University of Southern California, Human Biology Major
“It’s been hard to keep faith because of how fast work builds up in college. College is a difficult time for a person both mentally and emotionally; I end up working harder and harder on college coursework and tend to disregard my faith.”
“I’ve kept my faith by stepping back when things get really difficult and look to my faith in order to gain confidence and the courage to keep going. I’m not very religious but I do have faith and when things become difficult I just look for comfort in my faith before I can go back and face difficulties head on.”
“My advice is to step back from time to time and reflect on how you got to your current position. Count your blessings and know that beyond everything, faith is never going to let you down no matter in what degree you practice it. Also, every time you need to feel confident or feel blessed, look to your faith.”
Hallie: University of Kansas, Strategic Communications Major
“It’s been hard keeping my faith just because I’m busy. I have class Monday – Friday and work a job in the evenings three days a week. I’ve also had a hard time keeping my faith just because I haven’t really found a church that feels like home at school in Lawrence. There are a lot of different churches and finding a church that fits is something that is hard to do on your own. It’s also hard when your friends don’t regularly go to church.”
“If I’m being honest with myself, I haven’t been successful about a lot in terms of keeping my faith in college. Freshman year I was a part of YoungLife, so I tried that. But my sophomore year I didn’t do much.”
“I would feel a bit weird giving advice in something I’m having a hard time doing myself but I guess this is the advice I need to hear also, and that would be: find a church you’re comfortable with and someone to hold you accountable to go. And even if you don’t want to go to church at your college town, find a friend who understands your faith’s values and reach out to them when you need prayer, support, etc.”
Molly: Washington State University, Elementary Education Major
“My faith is very strong and has remained unaltered for my entire life. I was blessed enough to find my faith at an early age. Coming into college, I was confident in my ability to keep my faith, and maintain my daily spiritual routines and relationship with Christ.”
“Do not give up on your faith. Find a church, any church. There will be incredible resources and people there to help you find a home away from home. Without your faith, college has the potential to be a very intimidating and lonely place.”
“On nights where you are overwhelmed with school work, scared and homesick, or dealing with the loss of a relationship, you can take a break from life, close your eyes and give it all to the Lord. He will never give you more than you can handle and only gives his toughest challenges to His strongest soldiers.”
Cannon: Brigham Young University, Genetics and Biotechnology Major
“The hardest thing for me keeping my faith at college is time. I find time to be short, and it is hard to make adjustments to my schedule to account for personal study and other religious related activities.”
“I have found my attendance to worship services to be up to par in my keeping my faith. I find that being raised religious, guilt often comes when I do not attend meetings because I know it is wrong.”
“The advice I would give to someone struggling is to keep trying and don’t give up. Do your best to do what you are able to do, because faith plays a valuable role in your life. Don’t abandon your beliefs or faith, because it will benefit you and help define your character.”
Discover More:
Let Faith Be Your Sidekick
Faith and Nature
How to Put Your Faith in Action
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