The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

    Keeping faith as a college student

    Moving to Hammond to start college three years ago, I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity on campus. I grew up in what I considered a predominantly Catholic city, but I quickly learned how many other common religions there were in addition to Catholicism and non-denominational Christianity. 

    I have befriended people who are Baptist and Orthodox as well as some who have no religious affiliation. Although I am highly involved with the Catholic Student Association, I did not want to close myself off and never make friends outside of my faith. After all, we are all sinners, and no one is better than anyone else.

    Some people I met were immediately put off by my faith in God. Some tear down Catholics by assuming we are all judgmental and preachy. That’s not something I ever want to be. I want to honor God. I want to show others the joy I have in living a life that is rooted in faith, hope and love.     

    Sara Patrick

    Sara Patrick
    Editor in Chief

    Catholics are a diverse bunch, too. We have people of many nationalities and backgrounds. Not everyone was born into it. Some of the most devout Catholics I have met during my college years converted to Catholicism just a year or two ago. 

    I have always felt solid in my morals, but my membership in CSA by far changed the way I look at my religion. Becoming an active member of the CSA allowed me to go beyond the rulebook of Catholicism and develop a relationship with God through the wonderful people I met. 

    Many people think my friends and I are the odd ones for being so dedicated to our religion, but what I think is strange is that so many people in college think they have to choose between Jesus or the party lifestyle. 

    I’ve never been on either side of the two extremes. My life has never been all about my religion, although it is an important part of my life. My life has also never been about partying and the you-only-live-once mindset of my generation. I have spent my fair share of Thursday nights going out with my friends, but I’ve also managed to have plenty of good, clean fun with my Catholic friends that I will remember for the rest of my life. 

    I am proud to say I haven’t abandoned my religion and forsaken my relationship with God in order to have the “full college experience.” I believe I have had a full college experience-it just may not be what everyone else’s college experience is like. I’ve made good decisions, and I’m happy with how I’ve lived my college years and managed to have fun while maintaining and strengthening my faith.  

    Keeping faith in college is not an easy task. Ask many of the students who go to the St. Albert Catholic Student Center or the Baptist Collegiate Ministry. We all go through stressful times. We go through times when our actions are not always spiritually driven. We make mistakes, we ask God for forgiveness and we try to be better. 

    My Catholic friends, my co-workers and others all have different impressions of me based on what I act like around them. To my CSA friends, I’m loud, talkative, rooted in my Catholic faith, although I don’t know half of the facts about my religion that my peers at St. Albert do. To most other people, I’m the devout Catholic girl who never misses mass on Sundays, goes to church willingly throughout the week, is quiet, occasionally curses and likes to go out on the weekends. 

    From those descriptions, you would think I’m two totally different people. When I first came into college, I was the quiet girl who didn’t know who I was, who I wanted to be or what was acceptable to the secular world. 

    Now that I’m older and more comfortable in my own skin, I realize that it’s okay to be a combination of my spiritual and secular sides. I like a good party as much as the next college kid, but I know without a doubt that following God’s rules today is going to put me in much better shape for life after college and after my time on this planet is up. 

     
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