Diamondback Online - The University of Maryland's Independent Daily Student Newspaper

Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Opinion

Jenn Young

I grew up Catholic, attending Mass every weekend and celebrating religious holidays. Religion was something I associated with family time. Moving away from home has minimized the role Catholicism plays in my life in the sense that, now, I rarely attend Mass and find it more rewarding to study other religions than practice my own.

My parents rationalize my lack of Catholic religiosity as a natural phase, a crisis of faith, after which I will return to Catholicism. I disagree with this sentiment. Religion is part of my family tradition, and in moving to college it has become less important in my life. I assumed that this was the case for many others. In discussing the question of religiosity on the campus, I have discovered that the pressures and opportunities of the campus life have affected individuals in different ways, some embracing their religious ideals more and some denouncing them entirely.

Those students who have made friends during religious functions and who regularly attend religious clubs feel their attachment to their religion has increased since coming to school. I went to high school with a fellow student named Herman, who was raised a Sikh while growing up in a homogeneously Christian community. Since coming to Maryland, he has become more religious; he says, "My involvement in student groups has allowed me to become more active in my own religious community."

This same sentiment is shared by my friend Reem, who has found that the Muslim Students' Association has become a "great support system and a really good foundation of knowledge." Being surrounded by people with whom she can discuss and experience her religion has given her a sense of community within which she "cannot help but be inspired," she said. For Reem, her best friends are also part of the same religious community, and therefore her social relationships have heightened her individual religiosity.

There is a struggle to define oneself while taking social pressures and religious ideals into account. Balancing Orthodox Judaism traditions while going out with friends and dressing with the trends is a constant struggle for Ilana. She discussed with me the dynamic between dressing conservatively and praying regularly while still going out to parties and trying to cut loose. Discussing these feelings with her rabbi and other staff members at Hillel has helped her to decide on her own feelings of right and wrong.

Turning to the experience and advice of trusted friends becomes increasingly important as Anuja comments that "college presents you with so many different situations that your religion doesn't tell you how to deal with." Anuja maintains her faith in Hinduism and continues to practice as she had before leaving home, although in college there is an additional aspect of social complexity which necessitates seeking guidance outside of religion.

Moving away from home to a setting where peers have a large influence on one another changes the role of religion in people's lives. For many students, there is a deepened attachment to faith and custom because socializing is associated with religious culture. In other cases, social experiences do not involve friends of similar religious backgrounds and therefore religion is not common ground on which people relate.

Whether you believe in everything, one thing or nothing; the ideas and explorations one makes in college are legitimate. Who you are now will probably not be who you are years down the line, but what you experience and the people with whom you develop relationships during your time at the university will be part of you forever. The influence other ideas and beliefs have on your own understanding is an essential part of developing what you believe in as an individual, whether it is a reaffirmation of the faith you grew up with or not.

Jenn Young is a sophomore history major. She can be reached at jyoung22@umd.edu.

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