Christine A.
When humility is mentioned, the first thing people think of is humbleness. However, I believe that humility encompasses far more than being humble. Humility may manifest through service, extending assistance to individuals we prioritize their needs over our own, embodying selflessness. One day my mother went to return an item at Burlington and mentioned she’d forgotten it in the car. Instead of offering to retrieve it, I stayed silent, and my cousin stepped in. This missed opportunity reminds me of the importance of actively seeking to serve others, regardless of personal feelings.
Another form involves holding back when tempted to react. My youth leader shared a personal story of her strained relationship with her mother. A few months after giving birth, my youth leader was involved in a car accident. Later on, her mother falsely accused her of never reaching out. My youth leader contacted her several times, but she intentionally chose not to respond. My youth leader bit her tongue and even apologized although she had all the facts to make a rebuttal. If I were in her shoes I would have reacted differently. Her reaction is another form of humility I aim to achieve.
My journey through exploring humility has been an eye-opener. Acknowledging areas where I need to improve is one thing but improving it is another. Whether it’s by rendering service or practicing restraint each has contributed to my personal development. Even though I may stumble along the way I approach humility with a newfound commitment.
I found the idea humility being more than just humbleness and helping others than ourselves to be very interesting. The two stories about humitiy were helpful when understanding about what being humility is actually like.
I used to identify as an Athiest. Believing in things like the big bang, and that if it wasn’t scientifically proven or logical it wouldn’t make sense. This belief kept me close minded, disconnected & in a spiritually unaligned place. I was easily aggravated and not mindful of my words or routines. Entering senior year called for growth and new hobbies, which lead me to meditate. This self regulating activity opened my mind, rewired my perception, perspective and conscious. Meditation brought me closer to myself. I started feeling the urgency to apologize, show, praise and prove to god i was worthy of being his child. Through those actions god brought me peace. He showed me what it is like to live as one of his children & i never turned back. God has been able to fill me with a feeling of love, faith, patience, integrity & ambition i have never been motivated with. This change in perspective alone has changed my life for the better in more than some aspects. This shift/ belief has helped me overcome financial worries, existential crisis’ and all type of heartbreak through remembering gods peace & wisdom. I’ve been able to be slow to anger, very quick to show gratitude and live in the moment. Remembering to love all of my brothers and sisters, being mindful of my tongue, not cursing over my life or others. This relationship with god had granted me confidence and security. Also ultimately leading me to cultivate friendships with beautiful and holy women also on their journey to eternal peace and success. I believe those who seek god and are connected to the universe feel an undescribing peace which inspires & motivates them to continue to praise his word. I believe everyone is a child of god however not everyone is a believer. This spiritual connection can be formed in many ways but only nurtured through his word.
“Do not be Equally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has christ with belial? Or what part has and believe with an unbeliever? – ll Corinthians 6:24-15”
Are you a believer? If so what makes you that?
If Not what can you do today?
I would describe myself as Agnostic. I have never been a religious person, but this post was a perfect explanation of how religion and faith can bring people hope and light in dark times. I really enjoyed reading your perspective/story. Thank you!
I also wouldn’t describe myself as a religious person but I agree with you in the sense that this really does show how religion and faith can bring hope and light in dark times. Everyone goes through some dark times and I know a lot of people who first turn to god and pray and the story told is very nice to read.
I agree, it’s good to serve others out of pure kindness instead of doing it to expect something in return. Holding back while being tempted to react is a problem I can relate to due to the personal struggles I have had with hesitation in the past. I believe the best way to counter it is by not overthinking everything you do.
Hannah W
I have somehow grown closer to god since I’ve stopped going to church. It sounds antithetical, I know. I grew up there.
My mother passed when I was four. I was too young to understand but all I knew is that she wasn’t really there.
My Papa was the first death that I truly remembered. Going to church meant it was a place of mourning for my Nana and the rest of us. And I began to hate it.
Nana began pointing out things that reminded her of Papa to make it feel like he was around. She went to church to feel closer to him, while I felt more and more distant.
I stopped going.
I questioned who I was relying on to bring me closer to my mom and grandfather. Those “signs” didn’t mean anything to me.
Until he took her.
If god was real, why would he take her?
I found myself looking for signs.
Soon, I started seeing the hummingbirds. Silly, I know. But I grew thankful. They always seemed to show up-without fail- on days she should have been there.
Going against traditional values by not going to church made me feel like a fraud. But I found a way I could connect myself to God that worked for me. And that meant that it was okay to show my faith in a different way than what I had grown up doing.
Reevaluating my view on what it meant for me to believe was not a sin. Redefining something that didn’t resonate with me helped me find its purpose in my life.
I really relate to this, having dealt with some trauma throughout childhood as well. For much of my life I asked “if God is real, why would be put this on my shoulders?”
It was after no longer attending church and instead worshipping God in an individual way that it made more sense. Religion while typically being a group activity, is so individual because humans are all different. I’m so glad you found a way to redefine this for yourself and found purpose in your religion again 🙂 Wishing you the best.
“I have somehow grown closer to god since I’ve stopped going to church.”
This line that you said I agree so much with. there was a period in my life I was going to church by force and never because I wanted to. this made me hate the idea of church and made me not want to grow closer.
I relate to this, especially the death at such a young age. The church felt like a constant reminder of the trauma and loss I experienced. I found myself closer to God when I didn’t go to church. I had felt so judged and misunderstood when wasn’t following the traditional values. I am glad to see someone who had a similar journey in religion as mine.
Hanya M.
Ever since I was in my mother’s womb , the concept of church was already instilling my head ,my family considered church and important place and early demonstrated what it truly meant to love and worship God. As my age increased I began to go more depth with myself and explore my faith. As for someone who grew up in a church believe it or not the deeper concept of having a relationship with God, I was not ready for. There was a point in time in my life where I began to believe that my faith wasn’t as strong and I felt very distant with God , it has seemed that all the teaching I learned as a child just went away . I can agree that faith is very hard and it’s something that you yourself have to find consistency for , it hasn’t always been easy for me to believe the great works of the Lord. Until one day i just had enough the summer of 2023 came hard, but just like that I gave my life to the Almighty God, I decided that it wasn’t worth the hurt anymore , it wasn’t worth the pain to so I took it up with myself and made that big decision. I will say making these decisions are really important and once you do , your life will really change only if you work and put the effort needed to be where you at, consistency is key ,to achieve that goal and I would say wherever you are in life , if you go through a tough time finding something to help and finding faith will definitely help in the long run.
This very well captures the struggles of your faith, illustrating how deeply personal and challenging a relationship with God can be. Your story about initially feeling distant from your faith and then rediscovering it highlights a relatable experience. Your reflection on the importance of consistency and the personal decision to fully commit to your faith is very inspiring.
I agree 100%. Faith is something’s that’s either instilled or brought onto you towards a path. I always too had felt my connection with God has felt distant at some points but I always had the sense that he was still with me and that made me want to ask questions. As well as to being more vulnerable with God on our one on one time.
I resonate with your post, in most times of my life I wonder to myself why God would ever put me in certain situations that he would ever put me in a position to have to fight with myself. I grew up in a church as well, as I grew older I stopped attending and I started building my own relationship with God. Slowly getting closer to him and building an understanding with him.
That first line really hit me hard. I’ve been struggling with the fact I have to be at the House of the Lord to remain a Christian. I feel like from my past I was able to reflect on myself and grow my relationship with God without people forcing me to go to church when I can talk to him and grow my relationship with him from my own comfort zone.
I can relate to this I recently have gone through trauma like this and I have to stopped showing up to church and slowly started to lose hope and my faith. But I had events in my life that have helped me to get back to my faith and start going back to church.
Many times I felt that home was where I could feel closer to God. Everytime that I was nearly forced to go to church felt like I was feeling closer to the pope mainly because that was true: we were in the same church at the time of the sermon. However, I really connected to God when I was at home because I felt like I could be at peace and just talk to him there. Maybe it’s just because my gaming chair is more comfortable than the wooden church benches or that there are not as many strangers around me, but I’m glad someone else thinks that church isn’t needed to be close to God.
Ava N
I grew up a strong catholic, participating in Sunday school and teaching once I was confirmed. However, I never felt I truly believed what I was learning/teaching. I completed the course to make my family happy, but I actually felt very conflicted. I thought if God was real why do bad things happen to good people. This confusion led me to believe God wasn’t real. I disagreed with the church about many aspects of life. I truly thought people made up God and Jesus to explain things we can’t understand, like miracles. After about a year of feeling this way, I started to learn about other parts of the country junior year in history class. I learned about different religions from other countries, some of which are similar but others that are extremely different to Catholicism. This inspired me to understand my belief a little more. Many people interpret Catholicism differently. I realized I didn’t have to abide by every single thing I was told. I started to believe in God again realizing he understands humans are not perfect. I would feel guilty for every single thing I did wrong, when I started to realize God made humans imperfect for a reason. Once I stopped feeling so guilty I found comfort believing in God and spirits. It has taken me a while to be comfortable with my belief, but I feel confident now understanding I may not agree with everything the church says, and that’s ok!
I love the way you phrased this! Many people, including myself, struggle with the idea of “If God is real, why do bad things happen?” Your response to that was wonderful!
I’m happy for your confidence, wishing you the best 🙂
Your journey is truly inspiring. It’s wonderful to see how you’ve navigated your doubts and found a personal, meaningful understanding of faith. Embracing your own path and finding comfort in your beliefs is a powerful experience.
I really resonated with this. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one to have struggled with my religion and have found someone that has felt the same as me and has been in a similar situtation as me!
i really resonated with this!, I grew up Pentecostal and was always sort of expected to fall in line and go along with whatever my parents expected of me. it took a lot of self-work to build my faith back up to what i knew it could be and have more of a relationship with God
I understand your perspective on this. I also grew up in a household that was very strong on faith, I always went to church and listened to what people insisted what God would want me to do but I at that young age I didn’t feel I truly had a relationship with God. Now that I have gotten older and went through hardships I began to lean more towards God for answers no one else could give me. It gave me reassurance and a belief that something better for me was coming in the long run. I agree with the statement ” I may not agree with everything the church says” a lot because at the end of the day it is only me and God’s relationship and we shouldn’t tell each other how we should live through God only guide and advise each other.
Thank you for sharing your journey! I found it relatable in many ways. As we grow, we makes mistakes and growing up in the church can sometimes make you extra aware of said mistakes. But learning to not feel so guilty and finding that comfort in God is so important to solidify your faith in God!
Personal space is a belief people tend to question a lot when they get older. Some people want to know everything in your life down to the last crumb, but they also do not realize they are invading that person’s personal space.
I questioned this belief more when I got older and became legal age and even after. When you become an adult, fill out applications for jobs or even college applications, they want to know your life story and how you became who you are today. It makes no sense sometimes why those specific people will want to know if my parental guardian collects from the state or if I have a veteran in my family rather than knowing my skills and knowledge. That is not going to help you figure out if I am qualified for the job position or how my parents can provide.
Applying for job applications in the real world is an example of wanting to know more than what they should know. Why does the job have to know if the household gets food stamps or welfare, shouldn’t they be asking you about the knowledge of the job itself? It is the same way with college, they categorize based on the student’s life history and if they can pay for their tuition based on their family history/ income and the smarts of the student.
We should think more about this belief because a lot of people are being judged more on their background and family circumstances than who they are. Other people should be hired or accepted based on their knowledge of the information, not their background or what they have been through.
Not just communication that happens when having casual talk with someone, but communication on a deeper level. As a child growing up, I wasn’t involved in an environment where my parents would explain why I was being punished or why something was happening that I couldn’t seem to understand. I believe this caused me to form my own kind of understanding and beliefs and really helped to form a sense of identity in myself. I identify as someone who likes to communicate everything. I want people to hear my side of the story as well as me being able to showcase how I understand theirs. When huge conflicts appear present to me, all I want to do is to be able to talk and experience all the emotions that come with it. This skill is something that will be used a lot in my pursuit of wanting to become a nurse, as it’s untimely a test for deciding what is best for a persons case and why I think that way. I understand that communication doesn’t come as easy to everyone. I believe with the right amount of patience, mixed with the right amount of effort and compassion, the words will just flow. Communication has shown to not only connect others, but to share ideas and cause influence on a group or a community. I am going to need a lot of guidance during my next four years, and to get advice that’s best for me, I have to communicate.
Katherin P
American pastor and writer Charles Stanley once said, “Trusting God means looking beyond what we can see to what God sees.” As a little girl, I was taught about God and the religion Christianity. Christianity is the largest religion worldwide, teaching about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit known as The Holy Trinity. Believing in God is having faith in someone unseen for instance Paul the Apostle said, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (King James Version, 2 Cor. 5.7). Even though I cannot see God physically I have faith he exists.
As a child, I suffered from petit mal seizures, also classified as epilepsy, and is most common in children rather than adults. Petit mal seizures caused me to space out for brief seconds. Throughout this obstacle, I had faith that God would make a miracle like when he cleansed a leper, healed a crippled man, and healed a woman’s hemorrhage. Now that I have outgrown petit mal seizures with the help of God, I no longer take anti-seizure medication. When there is no cure for the ill, faith may be the last resort.
We all have obtained knowledge of multiple religions through listening to people and reading. I believe others in our community should listen to Christianity because It shows a perspective of one religion out of roughly 4,200 religions. Learning about various religions, we obtain a sense of respect towards other cultures and beliefs. Death means life to believers. What does death mean to you?
I agree with you. With faith and patience in Jesus, everything and anything is possible. You are never alone on any obstacle. It is not something a lot of people do. I am still working on being more patient but I have been put in situations where I have to be patient. I think God uses this as a form of learning for me.
What a good way to express how God’s power is. I went through a health situation as well as a baby and with the power of prayer and fate I was able to live life.
I could not agree more. I am also pursuing to become a nurse and during high school in the medical assisting shop, they always emphasize the importance of communication. Communication is vital in everything we do. I will admit at first I wasn’t the best at communication but I have gained an understanding of the importance of communication and now do my best to communicate.
Grace K
I wasn’t going to hell because I was gay when I was 12, It was because I was unfriendly, because I was selfish, and because I listened to Melanie Martinez.
These are the things that you think you’ll go to hell for when you’re 12.
I didn’t realize how much of my faith had been built on guilt until I was 15 and I read ‘The Call of Cthulhu’.
First of all, awful story. Legitimately bad. Reads like a car manual, The author’s super racist, and my teacher only gave us two days to read it. Triple whammy.
But the concept of the cult of Cthulhu is insane, because the members don’t actually like Cthulhu. They know that he’ll destroy everything and they help him. It made me think, if there was no god, would I be upset?
Or is my god just as evil in my eyes as Cthulhu?
This train of thought almost made me leave Christianity for good. At that point, I decided to take a deeper look into myself and what I believed.
One thing that Christians have to come to terms with is how our own religion has been bastardized for hundreds of years so that people can use it to control others.
When people live in guilt, not only do they destroy their own lives a little at a time, but they also continue the stupid game of telephone that Christianity has become subject to. Religion isn’t supposed to hurt, and I’m done putting myself through hell to become worthy of heaven.
Because no one is ‘worthy’. We all sin, and I choose to believe God loves me, and I choose to believe God doesn’t want me to hate myself.
This is so real, I support anyone who uses religion to better themselves and I’m friends with a lot of good people who are like that, but not those who try to use it to control others. Love is love and I really don’t understand why people have had SUCH a problem with it for centuries? Like even a lot of literal animals are gay, it’s so crazy how people can’t just accept one another.
I also really like Melanie Martinez, do you wanna be friends? LOL
Lol, the animals thing is so real. One time I went camping with my super homophobic church and two families had both brought their male dogs, you can assume what happened there, and, dude, people started actually freaking out. one of the families had to leave. it was so funny.
Also, yes, I’d love to be friends. 🙂
Related this one, Religion is about spreading kindness and love. People will just use religion as a shield to spout their hate. Glad that you were able to keep your faith and grow!
I grew up in a religious African household. As a kid, I went to church every Sunday, listening to my teachers and what my parents told me about God. But as I grew up, I went through various points in my life where I questioned my relationship with God and where I stood with him. I had my ups and downs and that took a toll on my mental health. I always asked God what I did wrong in my life that I’m suffering mentally. It felt like I was failing at life and there was no reason for me to be happy. My grandma passed away about 2 years ago and her death impacted my family. I had many questions about life and one thing I noticed was that I wasn’t happy that I was living my life filled with sadness, anger, and anxiety. There were times I was very emotional and cried and asked God for help. He answered my prayer for help and he provided that for me. One thing I learned about God was that he has many plans for my life and to help me I needed to make that first move. That stuck with me since and now I’m going to college it’s up to me and God, and with him by my side I know I’ll be able to connect with others who are like me and learn their stories as well.
This is very beautiful, and you are very strong. God can make beautiful things happen, and he’ll always be there in our time of need. It’s ok to be shaken in our faith every now and then, however, it’s important to always remember that God loves you and he has a plan for you.
This story is a great example of how god tests us. I also went through a time like this, it caused me to question many of my beliefs but I held on to them. And I am very grateful that I did because now that I am out of that situation I see how it helped me grow as a person and that it was all apart of god’s plan.
Mia L.
Growing up I was able to see many religions but was raised as a devout orthodox. I was also taught that belief and faith will always be two of the most important pillars in life. When I was just a child I would go to church and sit in the pews and look up at the various icons that depicted scenes throughout the time time Jesus lived and after he died and would wonder how all of them are still remembered and how they weren’t lost in the growing of the world and civilization. I’ve always loved the stories and the icons at the churches growing up. I was lucky in the sense that I got to visit many different Greek Orthodox churches because my father is was a traveling priest and I would see all the different saints and icons of the scenes of religion. Often I think of my beliefs and my faith to the orthodox church and how one day it all changed for me. One day in 2018 my dear grandfather died and he was very dear to me and I would spend as much time possible with him but when he died I blamed myself because I prayed to god to not let him suffer his illnesses anymore, the next day he was gone and my heart broke and I thought it was my fault that he died. Before my grandfather passed away I never truly doubted God and why things happened but after I found myself doubting God almost every day and I distanced myself from the church that I once considered my home. I constantly asked God why he listened to that one prayer instead of all the others that I had asked of him to make my papa better and not to fall sicker, those fell on what I believed to be gods deaf ear because he was busy with listening to everyone else’s prayers. I asked him day after day why that one prayer he decided to act upon why. I doubted him and thought well if he could grant this one prayer why could he not listen to others prayers about hunger and dying crops of illnesses. One day I decided that I couldn’t keep living in a constant depression and blame over myself that my papa had passed I was falling deeper and deeper into my mind and it was a very scary place at that time so I went into my back yard and sat on this boulder that we have and just talked and talked for what seemed like hours but was probably only 2 hours. I asked god once more why? Then I just decided to tell him all my thoughts and poured my heart out to him and for some weird religious reason I truly felt him as if he was sitting right next to me with his arm over my shoulders taking everything in. I apologized countless times for all of the doubt that I had for him and that i was sorry that I was so angry all the time and wanted to stay unhappy because I thought it was what I deserved. I asked him if what he did by listening to my prayer was a miracle? No one ever answers me when I ask. Was it a miracle or was it just fate? Every now and again I still doubt why God does things the way he does but I’m honest with him and prayer to him for forgiveness when I do.
Janelle A.
I was born & raised Christian, but it wasn’t by choice, so I had never entirely felt like it was a religion for me. Although I was a believer in spirituality, I didn’t believe my God was a man who died on a cross & he is who I had to look up to. Attending churches growing up, there was a lot of scamming, pedophilia and controversy. The Bible itself was rewritten and translated over thousands of years and to my understanding, put fear and obedience within its follower. From a young age, it gave a me a terrible outlook because I didn’t like how it would control, and I wasn’t exactly sold on the Christian dream. It’s understood by the Bible that homosexuality is wrong and should be punishable by hellfire, but as I got older, I tried to dance around that rule. Maybe if I suppressed my romantic feelings for the same gender, I would be safe. Everyone around me tried to “protect me” from it because my older sister came out.
And like most Christians, my immediate family was under religious psychosis. They told me that she had a disease from when we used to live in the ghetto, and I just remember thinking this is whole ordeal with my sisters sexual orientation was obsessive and weird. Crazy enough, diabetes runs in my family and she’s the healthiest one in the home. In October of 2021, I had my first queer awakening. Me & an older girl made some intense eye contact & I felt a deep and sudden attraction. Above all things was regret and guilt because I knew in that very moment that there wouldn’t be any “going back”. These feelings were present all along and the longer I suppressed them the stronger they were. I had forced myself to find happiness within the opposite sex gender but, no one could make me feel that intense attraction like my gender could. I battled with being queer for the rest of my high school experience because it was something I wasn’t allowed to understand. I wanted to believe in something that wasn’t deciding my destiny but instead guiding me through what it could be. Eventually, I concluded that I couldn’t follow the ways of the Bible or live up to gods specific expectations. Upon further research, I found that there is no real evidence of this God. Coming to terms that there it wasn’t a “master plan” and that you have to choose your own journey really gave me a push into pantheism. I found comfort in this because it’s not necessarily a religion, but a way of thinking. It includes reverence, awe, wonder, and a feeling of belonging to nature and the wider universe. It teaches you respect and active care for the rights of ALL living beings, recognizes life as a joyful & privileged experience, & promotes strong naturalism. It’s understood that God is within nature and throughout the universe & it really raises the question as to why wouldn’t anyone want to follow this way of life. The higher you raise your vibrations, the deeper you go into your spiritual journey. This can be done by meditation, spiritual cleansing, and so much more. Although some may not agree, I really think that they should understand that this mindset gives me a sense of self and allows me to live as authentically as possible.
Leiliane D
For most of my life, I hung to the belief that being independent is always solving problems single-handedly that real self-sufficiency meant handling my mental health issues alone. Seeking assistance was viewed by me as a sign of weakness since I believed that doing so would weaken my independence and strength.
However, high school put this concept to the test in dramatic ways. I faced various periods of anxiety and stress. It wasn’t until I started seeking what I needed from God, that he showed me that asking for help is not being vulnerable, he showed me that I could open up to trusted people in my life that they would find a way to help me. Seeking help from prayer helped me realize that seeking help did not lessen my independence, rather it strengthened me by God giving me the right tools. I realized that mental health and independence go hand in hand.
As I enter college, this concept of freedom becomes essential. I now understand that by putting my life in God’s hands he will do the rest for me. He will give me the confidence to ask for help when I need it.
As I embark on this period of change, I am dedicated by putting all my trust in God. I hope to negotiate college life with resilience and more self-sufficiency.
Indigo F.
Does anyone really know who they are, or are we simply portraying a character that we believe is who we are? As human beings, we constantly try to put on a face for society, acting perfect and happy when no one is ever that person. I believe that there is no such thing as a true self. Being authentic with friends, family, and significant others is attainable. Once you are around strangers, suddenly people put on a facade. The standard is to smile always and never falter, make sure your hair and makeup is perfect, wear appropriate clothing and never, ever show you’re anything but perfect. Once you take off the mask, you are left vulnerable and viewed as weak.
As humans we are constantly changing, learning, and growing into our real selves. The National Institute of Health describes true self as “a cognitive schema representing those aspects of the self that are considered, by the person, to be most emblematic of his or her true nature”, touching on the fact that the contents of a person’s true self may not relate to someones ‘real’ self. Being a person who has witnessed changes in others, for better or worse, it makes you wonder how you have grown as a person. Truth is, everyone is growing everyday without realizing it. Each decision you make changes you. When you wake up or go to bed, what you eat, what you watch on tv, and how you choose to act towards others everyday makes the biggest impact.
I think people can never truly be themselves because no one knows who they really are.
I totally agree! To be honest, ever since I started my spiritual journey I’ve really started to understand that you don’t FIND yourself. We aren’t meant to find ourselves, we are meant to CREATE ourselves. Whats exciting about this is that, due to the law of attraction how we think, feel, act & speak (manifestation) , really gives us the power to shape our person into anybody we want to be. Great take!
I like how you mentioned that “we are constantly changing, learning, and growing into our real selves.” This is because as humans we make mistakes and more often than usual we learn from those mistakes. These mistakes will usually form us leading us to change and grow constantly. As for me, I am continuously trying to become a better person and I feel like I can do that with the help of God.
My core belief is that self-love is the most important aspect of anyone’s life. Society tells us that we have to be pretty but we have to stay humble. We have to be skinny but not underweight, even though modelling agencies heavily promote eating disorders. We have to do everything we are told with a smile on our face. Societal expectations are enough to drive anyone mad.
I developed an eating disorder after a traumatic friendship break-up. Without realizing, I used skipping meals as a coping mechanism to the thoughts I found were too overwhelming to face. I believed being skinnier would make me prettier, therefore happier. It eventually spiraled into anorexia nervosa. I was severely underweight and I hated my body more than anything. I was almost dangerously skinny, yet I still saw the word “fat” on the scale. I obsessed over the numbers. My weight, calories, BMI, everything. Starving myself in the perfect way was an addiction. I needed control. I kept telling myself I would stop once I got down to a certain weight, but that number would keep dropping further and further. I was chasing a perfect illusion that would bring me to my death if I didn’t put an end to it.
I accidentally ended up going in the opposite direction and developed a binge eating disorder, rapidly gaining weight. During this, I idealized my sickest body: the body I had when I was at my lowest, unhealthiest weight. It wasn’t until I had a friend tell me how terrified they were for me during the sick moments I craved back, how horrified they were from how much weight I’d lost. Those words shattered my heart and my entire perspective. I looked back at the photos and no longer saw my prettiest self, but my sickest. The version of me who almost commit suicide from this trauma. That was the day I chose recovery and to begin loving myself. I chose not to let the evil voice in my head keep winning, controlling my every move like I was a puppet on strings.
Believe me when I say recovery wasn’t easy, but choosing it was the best decision of my entire life. I slowly started regulating my eating patterns and stopped looking at the numbers on the nutrition label and the scale. I began loving my body for what it was, not for what I wanted it to be. I didn’t need the slimmest stomach, I needed to feed it the food it was desperately begging for. Now after recovery, I look the best I have ever looked. I don’t just want to be beautiful, I am beautiful. I am beautiful because I tell myself I’m beautiful. I was never going to live up to unrealistic beauty standards by insulting myself in every which way. Society’s opinion of beauty will never be accurate. It doesn’t matter how much of an hourglass figure Victoria Secret supermodels have, true beauty is the beauty that shines within.
My self-love journey saved my life. It not only cured most of my body dysmorphia, but it showed me countless reasons to live that I couldn’t see under all the darkness. All of the torture when I was fighting against myself was transformed into all of the beauty in being my own best friend. I didn’t need back the traumatic friendship I had lost because I had to love myself first before anyone else could.
I believe in self-love being the best thing anyone can do for themselves. I believe in the fact that things will always get better, no matter how suffocating they may feel. I believe that life is worth living. I wrote this for anyone feeling stuck in self-hatred or low self-esteem. My story is living proof that if I can do it, so can anyone else. Everyone has the power to change their lives for the better. To love yourself is to be kind to yourself, to treat yourself as someone you love. It will never appear out of negative self-talk. I want people to really read this and reflect on everything they bully themselves for. Is it something that will truly make you happy once changed, if it even can be? The people thinking about brushing my message off after reading this far, are most likely the people currently suffering the same fate I did. Thinking that “skinny enough” will happen one day. May I ask, has hitting your goal weight ever been enough for you? When you didn’t feel the need to lower it and starve yourself, torture yourself just a little bit more? How much more of this can you take?
Now this isn’t part of my essay, but I wanted to include this:
If you are one of those people, believe me when I tell you you’re not alone. There are people who care about you that you might not even be too close with yet. To anyone who needs help or simply just wants someone to talk to, feel free to reach out to me in the replies, or you can find me @kayla.pimentel1 on Instagram if you wish to message me privately. I also recommend getting professional help such as a therapist but if that financially isn’t an option for some, the national eating disorder hotline is (800) 931-2237.
People typically glamourize eating disorders in today’s society because it is a belief that beauty is pain and that food is the root of all evil. The only pain true beauty gave me, is the pain that transformed into freedom after breaking out of the handcuffs that the self-deprecating voice in my head had trapped me in. Sure my wrists hurt after I broke the metal, but my scars healed once my heart healed. The human body needs food for energy, don’t take away its joy. Don’t take away your joy.
This takes so much strength and courage to not only acknowledge this to yourself but to the world around you. I may not know you very well, but based on what I do know I am proud of your accomplishments, and I admire how you took control and changed for the better. I have friends who have been through similar situations and it’s always amazing to see how they face the challenge and come out on top. I know that for me there was a period of time where I also struggled with my eating habits, although it wasn’t as severe it drained me emotionally and mentally. I had lost around 15 pounds in the span of 2 1/2 weeks. Eventually my mother had noticed, and she encouraged me to eat more and to realize beauty isn’t in the eyes of society but rather in those who love you, in a God that made you in His image. So, I thank you for talking about something that many people may be afraid to talk about and for allowing me to open up a bit about my experience. Don’t forget you are and will always be beautiful!
Thank you so much❤️. Even if yours didn’t last too long, that’s still a lot of weight that was lost and I’m happy you had a loved one there to help you before things got too far and to remind you of what really matters. I’m proud of you for stopping before it was too late and for seeing yourself for the beautiful girl you really are. You’re welcome to talk to me about it anytime, you’re so brave for coming on here to tell your story for others to hopefully be able to validate themselves from. An eating disorder is valid no matter how long or short it went on for. I don’t see enough people talking about it in the way you did so I’m glad you did and I’m happy you’re doing so much better now. You’re such a beautiful person inside and out and I hope we can be friends on campus <333
This so so well written and such a beautiful story! Self love is so important and yet so hard to achieve and I am so happy to read how much it helped you. This topic is something I can definitely relate to and am glad to be able to see someone else who has around the same experience as me. I am proud of where you are today!
Olivia J.
As I began to experience life more I’ve concluded that the reason so many people feel the weight of loneliness is due to their fear of self-expression. Everyone around us is so focused on what others think of them that they hide themselves from being truly seen by others. This leads people to the idea that there aren’t those around them who can relate to the situations and beliefs in their lives, ultimately leaving them to feel lonely. However, when the few people that do let their guard down and allow others to see the true them, it is only then, they will attract like-minded people that they can relate to, and thus end the cycle of loneliness. I discovered this to be true during my senior year of high school. My whole life I had been raised to be very involved in the church and my faith. All of this made me feel very alone and small in a public school considering I thought there were no kids that would agree and believe in the same things I do. This led me to keep that big part of myself private from my classmates, though doing so also made me feel like no one had ever truly known me. However, in my last year, I was allowed to show that part of me to my peers through a mandatory project at my school, called a senior project. I chose the topic of how religion, specifically Christianity, is somewhat of a dying faith in America, and how that must be fixed. I worked on the project throughout the entire year, and it was scary and nerve-racking at times. Although, through this opportunity, I learned that I wasn’t alone in my beliefs. I attracted like-minded classmates to talk to me about that subject and even got others curious about it. Ultimately, I concluded that if you don’t open yourself up to the world, you will always feel out of place and lonely because you are hindering yourself from meeting others similar to yourself. It is with this that I ask, if you are somebody who feels or has ever felt lonely, could it possibly be because you were afraid of the scrutiny or judgment to show yourself to others? If so, what will you do to change this?
This is a beautiful story when it comes to self expression. Just like you I also just started living life as I wanted to senior year. And it’s true, you do start to attract the crowd you want to be around when you are just relentlessly yourself! For many people religion plays a huge part in this as well but not so much for others. Instead of focusing on bringing back “faith” in the religious sense to people I believe we should bring back having faith in other people. Loved reading your post and hope all is well!
Choosing to open up and interact with those around us instead of feeling isolated is a liberation, an invitation for the soul to express itself. Many people can relate to your experience, myself included. Your question at the end is a strong closer that made me think about it from a different perspective.
I grew up in an average black family. A family built on the strength and guidance of the perpetually “strong” black woman. The women in my family are accustomed to placing their goals and dreams last and it’s not because they deem themselves as less important it’s because there is a generational cycle that perpetuates the idea that black women such as myself need to give up everything to satisfy others while keeping a small part of our hopes, dreams, and aspirations alive. That notion is something I cannot fathom but it’s the sad truth for the women in my family and I believe the cycle of women lowering themselves to hold others up needs to end to understand why I believe this Here’s a brief background on The women in my family. Sheila my aunt works in the local DMV but always had dreams of becoming an aircraft pilot in the Air Force, Sheila struggles with mania and had a son at the ripe age of 19. She had big dreams but once her son was born she stopped dreaming and started living for him. My nana Kendra has done a little of everything she sings, she acted at one point and now she works in health insurance which we can all agree is a very practiced job but it’s not what she planned on doing Kendra has always wanted to be a professor and influence young minds. As a young mind herself she gave birth to her son at 15 and she stopped dreaming, granted she sang and acted but she never truly lived out her dreams now doesn’t that sound familiar? Lastly my Amazing great-grandmother Tilla well her story is complex. She was originally from Savannah Georgia and she moved to Connecticut during the Jim Crow era to find more opportunities and escape discrimination on her way here she met my grandfather and after her endless attempts to persuade her she went on a date with him to the now sacred heart cinema and that one date turned into more dates and those dates turned into babies those babies being Sheila and Kendra. My grandmother was the start of the generational cycle of women in my family dreaming big and falling into a dim reality due to having children at a young age but unlike Kendra and Sheila, my grandmother never stopped dreaming. Despite being new to Connecticut still she began to apply for higher-paying jobs to support her new family and she began working at Sikorsky Aircraft as the first black woman to be employed for hands-on work. She got up every morning at 3 am like clockwork for 50 years living her dream and working on planes because she knew how truly important it was to keep her dreams alive not just for her sake but for the sake of the women that would come after her. Now I didn’t tell you about these women for no reason I used each of their stories to make a statement about a belief I hold near and dear to me. And that belief I was taught for generations is that you should never let anything or anyone keep you from achieving your dreams because you only get one life and the last thing you should do with it is not support your goals and hopes. I feel as though we all find reasons to delay things that we know will make us better whether it’s exercising, reading that new book TikTok keeps magically recommending you, or taking a leap of faith and trying something completely random and new and I’d like to say that life is too long to waste it on saying “I’ll do it later” and “maybe’s”. The time to live is now not later because the day you decide to stop trying or let a minor setback keep you from a major comeback is the day you lose your power in life and if it’s one thing those 3 strong women taught me it’s that I should never let anything or anyone take away my power and keep me from my dreams. We should all go for what makes us happy even when we feel like we’ve been set back because we can always make up for lost time. think about it 50 years from now do you want to think of what you could’ve done in your life or what you have done with life?
I’m Analise, and I am a first year Freshman and a belief that I have continuously developed over the years would definitely be my belief for open mindedness. Over the past few years throughout high school I have learned that trying and experiencing new things is not a bad thing, but something that is good for you to learn what you like and don’t like. Something many teens probably experience is going through jobs while in high school. Some of the jobs I have tried would be working on a farm, a car wash, in a restaurant and fast food places. Going into these jobs I knew I would have to go in with an open mind cause I never had any experience in this kind of workplace or any experience at all. My first job was Wendy’s and I wasn’t really open minded when I went into this job because my coworkers were very hostile and they were not the nicest of people to work with. This experience made me think every workplace had the same type of environment. While working there we ended up getting a bad hurricane and they shut down, then I ended up working at Outback. I’ve had my fair share of jobs from leaving the job to weather destroying the place I worked at but at some point they all had the same lesson for different reasons which was open mindedness. I’m glad I got these experiences at the jobs I’ve worked at because I feel like a part of it shaped me into who I am today.
*The* general idea of being thoughtful and mindful of other’s thoughts and feelings seems obvious, yet I think this *action* is a skill we forget to teach and practice. There are times when putting aside your feelings to understand someone else comes naturally, but I’ve also noticed when it is completely foreign. I’ve always thought *of* this belief as a given, that there was a base level of *understanding* of each other in all of us. Yet *being* in my formative years as the world was changing around me just as frequently as my emotional state, made me more *aware* of my world and shifted my perspective. The past decade alone has made me question the emotional intelligence I’ve cultivated and whether that will be reciprocated to me as I go through life.
I was raised Catholic, and even when I branched out to a non-religious high school, I was always surrounded by a community that prioritized and encouraged kindness. Yet in both *of* those spaces, I was faced with conflicts between peers, bullying, and discrimination; moments where people lacked the practice of compassion. So I’ve never thought of this belief as tied to faith or being a part of a certain religion, because no matter how my faith wavered this stayed constant to my identity; this is just part of *being* human. However, taking a step back and a lot of introspection and reflection on what has happened— moving, chaotic friendships, COVID-19, familial losses, dividing elections, and witnessing overwhelming violence to so many people— has me questioning this belief as well.
Is this belief innate? Am I *sensitive* for thinking so?
I think, *to* understand how others view the world is stepping outside of ourselves for a moment. Given the environment we’ve grown up in, this has become increasingly harder to do. Especially growing up on social media *and* in a significantly emotionally volatile time, I’ve noticed my peers and myself detaching from not only ourselves but from how we view other people. Research has shown that social media has diminished our ability to bond on an emotional level, to momentarily live *vicariously* in what the other person— similar to us or not— is *experiencing*.
This is hard to do. And I want to acknowledge that of course, but we aren’t wholely victims of our circumstances nor entirely responsible for collectively lacking this skill. We’re on track to become one of *the* most educated generations in the US. This is empowering— yay we’re so smart— but also concerning that we don’t prioritize emotional intelligence as a part of our education. And we weren’t taught to. How do you find that connection to *feelings* even in yourself if you were never shown how? It’s the muscle we aren’t told needed training, especially today. But I believe it is crucial to have this in today’s society to understand and connect our *thoughts* and the world around us. I think it’s a subtle change in mindset but has a significant impact on how we interact with people, especially in such a divisive and combative environment. Stepping out of my head *and* taking the time to hear and learn from my peers’ *experiences* helped me gain a better understanding and new perspective on a class discussion. At that moment my belief helped further my knowledge and strengthen my sense *of* community between me and *another* student even when our views were distinct.
**Empathy** is one of the most important and overlooked beliefs I have— it’s reflected in this essay: the bold words are Merriam-Webster’s definition of empathy. Having empathy is actively shifting your perspective. Have I shifted yours?
(The bold function doesn’t work in comments 🙁 which I didn’t know until I was submitting… so the * point out the bold words)
Bennett M
For much of my life, I had struggled with the idea of God. This was largely due to the contrasting opinions of God and Catholicism that surrounded me. The church I went to was made of people who interpreted the text and used it for hate, who deemed me a sinner at conception and judged me as a child for decisions out of my control. The other was supportive of my identity and past but hated the church for the extremists they had met.
It was difficult to attempt to find a medium between two extremes. Neither side accepted or wanted me for how I truly was. It was when I was at my worst during high school that I realized how individual the world is meant to be. I was struggling with mental health and trying to find a place that accepted me.
The thing is, God accepts and loves all his creatures as they truly and authentically are. In trying to fit myself into one group, I felt I was defying this. When high school was completed and left room for reflection, I reached my most secure spot. In being and discovering myself completely, this is the closest I ever felt to God. I had finally found a way to be comfortable in myself and my religion, and I know and believe now that God loves me how I am.
As a child, my parents and grandparents consistently took me to church and spoke of God’s greatness, encouraging me to worship Him throughout my life. Until middle school, I never questioned His existence or my faith in Him. However, as I faced bullying and various hardships, I began to doubt. I felt abandoned by God and isolated, which led me to lose my faith and push Him away.
This period of doubt was challenging, but it eventually became clear that I was not truly alone. My family remained steadfastly by my side, offering unwavering support. Recognizing their presence and love helped me rediscover my faith. I came to understand that God had never abandoned me; He was always there, loving me more profoundly than I had ever realized.
With this renewed perspective, I was able to overcome my loss of faith and significantly alleviate my depression. My family’s support, coupled with the understanding of God’s constant love, restored my belief and brought me comfort. I am now more devoted than ever to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. This journey has reaffirmed my faith and strengthened my commitment to a life of worship and gratitude.
Alyssa D.
My belief that I have developed over the years is God. The belief in God is an acknowledgement of a higher power that goes beyond our understanding of the universe. It stands for a deeply personal and spiritual connection that guides people in their journey for meaning, purpose and moral direction. Growing up around my religion and going to church every Sunday with my family were very formative experiences that ultimately led to my belief in God. Sunday school became a ritual for me at a very early age. These experiences have gradually altered my perception of God’s role in my life, placing in me a sense of reverence and familiarity with the principles of my faith. This provided me with a feeling of purpose and direction in my life, which is comforting and strong at difficult times. It is an intense sense of relationships to something way bigger than oneself, which promotes appreciation and compassion for others. A person’s worldview is shaped by their belief in God, which also affects moral judgments and encourages responsibility for one’s actions. Ultimately, having a belief in God improves lives by providing direction, comfort, and a framework for comprehending the complexity of life, whether through formal religion or personal spirituality.
I could not agree more. I also attended Sunday school where they taught about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. These lessons will always be stored at the back of my mind, giving me a foundation in moral values. I like how you mentioned that God provides direction and I could not agree more because God always has a plan for us.
I really enjoyed reading your post, it really reminded me of my walk with God. I agree with your statement that having a belief in God improves lives, and I believe so to. Though I didn’t attend church regularly, I was enrolled in a Christian school where they helped guide and form my beliefs to align with biblical principles. My Christian influences helped give me a strong godly foundation that I can live by. The point I am at in my walk allows me to recognize God and his character throughout nature and by daily life, even if I am not actively pursuing Him.
Yuxin X
I’ve been sticking to my parents’ plan for a long time. They have their expectations on me, and always pushing me towards that ultimate goal, while not knowing all those persuasive commands had put huge pressure on me. In my opinion, all actions taken should receive whether a reward or a punishment to measure its correctness. This judgment system is what keeps us on a positive track, at least what we think is good.
However, the feelings we sense from the world is such abstract, there will not always be a voice guiding you. I’ve dug deep into this topic. Eventually I found out there is no such “end” for the world, yet our lives. Never heard about anyone telling us about the feelings of the deaths, I became afraid of death. How lonely the void would our soul bear; How enjoyable would living in heaven feel like; How obnoxious would hell be? So many people dedicating their whole life accumulating wealth to inherit or enjoy, renown to be remembered and worshiped. Will it affect the afterlife(if there is)? On a scientific perspective, our lives would literally end after our deaths. Non of those what we did within our life span really matters. But this way the meaning of life would be neglected. Don’t you think being able to feel the things around is lucky enough? Not feeling literally anything is scary to think of. I became so afraid to anything that could have a little chance to get me killed, from walking on the street to extreme sports or wars. I’d also started to figuring out the meaning of life. I was so frustrated and tired thinking of this. I couldn’t do any thing with passion at that time. Luckily, a high school teacher of mine told me not to think and stuck rather keep going on. Months later after I put aside my concerns, I’m so glad to be born, to experience, to explore my unknowns. A thought gradually forms: the meaning of life is to be shaped by us. Dominating our own lives and forming our own values while being moral, then achieving these goals is what makes our lives meaningful. Don’t pause, but keep running.
Herinic D
Competing with yourself is the best way to grow/improve. I believe the reason for a lot of our problems/bad habits stems from our own self conflict, which leads to decisions that we may not always approve of. Personally, I realized this after a bunch of self-reflection, a fair amount of the bad habits I was forming was due to me giving into laziness and distractions.
Recently, I would have these days where I wasn’t being productive in working on myself. Furthermore, it wouldn’t sit right with me because I felt like my focus was elsewhere. I would work out, but I always played a great deal of video games which was causing me to be lazy, together with wasting time. I knew what I had to do to succeed but those two things were interfering with my discipline. Once I started getting rid of these distractions, I noticed I had more motivation and more importantly, my discipline got stronger. These distractions also affected
the time I would put into making music. It’s a hobby of mine that I am very passionate about, but I wasn’t doing it as much as I wanted to, owing to the fact that I was just gaming. There’s always going to be that side of us that doesn’t want the best for us. However, we must overcome it to truly prosper. I recognize we all make mistakes but if we choose to willingly give in to them instead of fixing them, they become something worse.
Good job on turning the off switch on those distractions. I could relate to this. I was so distracted by games that I let to much time pass by, which could have been used for more productive activities. When I finally cut those types of distractions out of my life I started putting in the work and started getting results. I might not know you but I’m glad you overcame that obstacle and started focusing on building discipline. After all discipline is the foundation of all success and without it how can we reach our goals.
Ronin K
When I was younger I never really cared about religion and didn’t believe in much but recently in my life I have felt that God has been helping me keep going for a while now but never really noticed it and thorough out life I’ve been in some rough situations weather it was mentally, socially or physically. Anytime I feel like I’m at my lowest point and that it’s only going to get worse, there’s always something that gets me out of the situation and sometimes its the simplest things and for the longest time I thought I would just get lucky when I was in rough spots but now I’ve started to believe it was God’s plan
While growing up, I believe I can speak to the fact that most of us heard the saying, “Blood is thicker than water.” This was used as a tactic to convince impressionable minds that no matter what, family comes before all. As I grew up, I started to question this saying. How could a distant great-aunt be more valuable to me than a peer I grew up with? While this is a common saying, most are not aware of what it was derived from. The original idiom goes, “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” Riddling this situation with irony. Although most of the time, people hear it from their parents, for me that was not the case. My dad always likes to claim that our family motto is, “What’s one more?” which I hold close to my heart. It taught me at an early age, in simple terms, that family is not blood but the strong emotional bonds you form with others. My cousins who were adopted are just as much family as the ones who were born into our bloodline. Not to mention my mom’s best friend who she met in college, who we still refer to as our aunt. The people you surround yourself with, and who reciprocate the effort you put into those relationships are truly family. Putting yourself in this mindset can open the window to many more interpersonal relationships. In your current situation, what is something you could do to help someone feel more at home?
Daniela G.
In the past year, my understanding of Christianity has evolved significantly. Before, I believed that Christianity was just a religion in which you have to follow a set of rules to secure a spot in heaven. Growing up, my father would use fear-based tactics to make me follow the rules. Though he thought that was going to guide me closer to God it did the opposite. I started losing my faith.
Everything that happens in life is for a greater purpose. During some of my most challenging moments, I met this boy who has opened my eyes to so many things. His family has taught me so much and everything finally started to make sense. I have clarified why I felt certain ways and ways I could better myself. The answer was always in front of me but I was always too distracted by the world to see it.
The Bible has taught me the importance of love, grace, forgiveness, and more. The rules in the Bible are not just to be followed to secure a spot in heaven but also for your good. For example, forgiveness is important. Without forgiveness, it can cause many negative effects on one ‘s self. This can be resentment, bitterness, and lack of inner peace. That is why it is important to seek Jesus and get to know him. Christianity is not about wearing skirts, going to church service every Sunday, or being “perfect” but about cultivating a relationship with Jesus.
Very well written, you explain faith very well. I also love what you said in the last paragraph on how being faithful is not just for a spot in heaven. I always said that there isn’t a single value in the Bible that if you apply it to your own life, your life will be worse. God only wants what’s best for us and your story shows that.
If there’s one thing that comes into mind when Spirituality comes into play, it’s determination. Ever since I was a kid I had always had dreams of becoming rich and famous and always have interests that I have wanted to explore and learn more about like with music, or cars, or whatever it was. Determination is a driving force that can’t be matched by anything once you feel that way and it’s what got me through most of my life. I only got through High school by pushing myself to do well with my grades and to have a better future.I was able to recover from my drug abuse through the determination to see my family smile again. I was able to save my money due to being determined to get a car. I had a strong sense of determination from finding my purpose early on in life and knowing what I should do with my life and it isn’t me thinking about who I want to be when I grow up or some shit like that. It felt natural of what I wanted to do in general no matter how I got to that point and it was to “Help people in need” (including myself). I was able and still able to do so many things with determination because every problem I encountered always had a purpose, no matter how big or small it is. If you have a strong sense of purpose, you can get through anything with your determination and any obstacles that come along your path.
Nate M,
A belief that I have developed through my life is to be mindful. This has helped me form new relationships and see the beauty in the little things. Being mindful is being in the moment and having appreciation for your life and everything that had to happen for you to be where you are. A key moment in my life that developed this belief was during quarantine for covid. Not being able to hang out with friends or peers made me look for other things to do in order to pass the time. I turned to reading and exercising, spending more time outside finding things that interested me. I took more time to sit in the sun and spend time with my family. I was finally starting to appreciate the little things in life and was the happiest I ever felt. Being more mindful has many benefits allowing you to explore life through a new perspective and curiosity that can lead you to newfound interests and awareness. It is important for a community to be mindful so that everyone can learn from each other and get a new perspective on life. This allows everyone to explore life with kindness contributing to the community’s emotional and physical health. As we enter a new stage of life, we need to ask ourselves where we can be better and how can we contribute to a better future. Something as simple as living in the moment can be what the world needs and all of us have the power to change.
Sherryssah L.
It came to my surprise that the saying “fight fire with fire” wasn’t quite literal but rather figurative. Even then the saying didn’t make sense to me. For the longest time I believed that if someone wronged me that they’d deserve the same treatment they gave me, the same energy because they knew “it was coming”. Doing that only took more out of me than it did out of them. It felt wrong, like a waste of time because who am I to put someone down when they’re at their lowest. Maybe it’s natural for me because I believe in a God that tells us to love one another and not to judge because neither of us are perfect. I came to this realization when a girl I had known had talked about me, judged me, laughed at me and had done the same to others including some of the people I loved. Everyone thought she was amazing, this wonderful person and I hated that. So, I did what people do, I returned the favor. It only made me realize that I was becoming the person I hated. I tried something new; I gave her my respect. I listened to her problems, I cared for her and supported her despite everything. Having this mindset had opened a new maturity in me, it allowed me to see past someone’s flaws and still love them for who they are. It gave me a sense of self love, allowing myself to put me and my values above others despite the thoughts and rules of society. So, it begs the question, do you follow who you are, or do you choose to conform to the world?
Todd S.
Growing up I’ve been taught to love Jesus with my whole heart, soul and mind. I was exposed to the Church at a very young age, and went to CCD, eventually being confirmed about four years ago. But, over these past four years, I’ve found myself growing apart from Jesus. Since being confirmed it has been very difficult to stay faithful and have been considering myself to be a “lukewarm” Christian. I wear the cross around my neck everyday, but yet I don’t represent Christ’s values. How can somebody consider themselves a person of faith, but sin without repenting? It is just purely hypocritical. So, with this in mind, I decided to make a change for the better. I started reading the Bible more, being mindful of the sins I commit, and making sure to repent for those sins. My life changed in ways only God could be responsible for. I found refuge in the things that normally stressed me out, and what would have made me upset, didn’t really affect me at all. Getting back into my faith made me realize how blessed I truly am. Thanks to this I can now sit right where I am and be happy knowing that my plan is in god’s hands. This makes me confident to say that anyone who is stressed, upset, or depressed, just know that God is here for you all the time. Some people in your life may say they would die for you, but he really did.
Currently, my past 13 years of education were filled with direct religious influence as a result of my “non-religious” parent’s decision to enroll me in a private Christian school. Entering into a religious school, I felt, had no discernible effect on me when it came to my belief in religion; however, looking back now, I understand why and how I came to carry certain beliefs that I do. Belief in God was a default in my childhood, up until middle school and the start of high school. Entering freshman year was when we were told to question and test our belief in God, but after years of being told that He was the only way, truth, and life, it was confusing. I felt angry and guilty at not only God but myself. I trusted and believed in God but found I never truly felt like a Christian. I never had that eye-opening experience that so many believers swear by; I was never baptized, and my parents never took me to church; my only link to God was school and my teachers. High school meant they went in depth with the Christian belief system, spiritually and legally. They would explain a common belief and back it up with faith and even science if necessary. But I kept finding myself angry and confused, as when summers came along, I would lose my faith in favor of the world and experiencing life.
Though now I do not have a strong faith in God and do not live by the standard set in my childhood, I am grateful for the opportunity to have been influenced by good Christians. I’m glad I was raised surrounded by people with diverse beliefs and worldviews.
Zada W.
Personal reflection is key to not only understanding yourself but also understanding the world around you. Before I came to this realization, it was very easy for me to internalize every negative comment someone has made about me, whether their intention was to hurt me or not. My self esteem was very low and that soon began to impact the people around me. I became negative and hard to be around because of how I believed that those people were right. It wasn’t until I took the time to really sit down with myself and challenge those beliefs realized that those were not mine. Projection is a powerful thing, it presents itself as hate for another when its really someone hating themselves. When that projection attaches itself to you it then becomes hate for yourself. Once I changed my mindset and started telling myself that only I get to decide who I am and who I want to be is when my self esteem started to get better. I could finally look in the mirror and instead of picking out little flaws, I appreciated who I was.
This self reflection made me have not only sympathy for myself, but have sympathy for the ones who spread the same negativity for others. Despite a persons mistake, it is so important to have compassion for others whether they internalize it or not. Give someone the same sympathy, empathy, and patience that you wish others would have given you when you were going through a hard time. This doesn’t mean tolerate disrespect. It means respect yourself enough to avoid getting on the same level and leaving situations you know won’t serve you for the better.
Nhi N.
Trusting in friendships used to come easily to me. I love the comfort of knowing someone would always look out for me. But there was a period when a toxic relationship left me reeling and made me doubt everything I had ever held dear. How it started was harmless enough, we often had pleasant late-night conversations and shared laughter. I find comfort in her company and have a great deal of respect for her. We were inseparable, or so I thought. Slowly, things started to change, she began to hang out with a popular group of friends. Then, her words were getting harsh towards me, and criticisms disguised as jokes became frequent. I am aware of the strange attitude, I wanted to have a serious conversation with her, yet all my respect towards that friend held me back, I got too scared of losing her, afraid that I might say the wrong thing that could trigger another outburst. As time wore on, the toxicity grew more suffocating. I began to lose myself in the relationship, always trying to please them while sacrificing my well-being. It took a breaking point for me to confront the reality of the situation finally, I understand that not all friendships are based on support and respect for one another. I gradually started removing myself from the toxic environment, establishing boundaries, and realizing my value. In the end, my belief in friendship has evolved – not diminished. I still cherish companionship, but I now understand more about what makes a true friend. It’s about mutual respect and the freedom to be authentically yourself without fear of judgment.
Alan C.
I lived in New York City for ten years before moving to Irvington for middle and high school. Since it was close to many grocery stores and other shops, necessities were easily available. After finishing sixth grade, I traveled to the Philippines during summer break.
As a developing third-world country, I expected a similar availability of products as the U.S. How would I know without thinking about the realistic differences? Contrary to my thoughts, this was not the case. Many appliances and lighting were outdated, not in terms of electricity output, but in production dates. The air-conditioners were losing paint and wouldn’t have regulators but instead a timer. Most people owned backyard gardens to supply food if a shortage came and because residential neighborhoods weren’t near supermarkets, planting was cheaper. During my summer vacation following high school, I visited Vietnam. While Saigon was more developed than Hanoi or Danang, it was still similar to the Philippines. Excluding the skyscrapers and hotels, civilian life was limited due to less availability of cars and food.
After visiting other countries and witnessing a third-world country lifestyle, it contrasted with mine. Where there is a high availability of products in the U.S., other less-developed countries may lack such easy access. Traveling around the world opened my eyes to the standard of living for others, many largely different from mine, simply because everyone has to do what they need to to get by in their environments.
Kayla F.
For most of my life, I believed that strength meant independence and keeping others at a distance with emotional armor. Vulnerability seemed like a weakness, an invitation to judgment or exploitation. This belief was firmly held until some pivotal events during my junior year of high school shifted my perspective.
That year, the demands of harder coursework, a new job, and an active social life overwhelmed me. Struggling to balance everything, I sank deeper into a hole without seeking help, fearing judgment and wanting to maintain the facade of independence. My grades fell, and my emotional state deteriorated, but I kept my struggles hidden, not wanting to appear weak.
This period of intense difficulty forced me to confront vulnerability. For the first time, I had to ask for help instead of being the helper. I learned that being vulnerable doesn’t weaken you; in fact, it can make you stronger. Opening up about my struggles and accepting support improved my mental health and helped me manage my life more effectively.
This belief is important not only for me but for our UMassD community. Embracing vulnerability can foster a more supportive and empathetic environment. It encourages openness and trust, which are essential for personal and communal growth.
So, as we enter this new chapter, consider this: What could we achieve if we allowed ourselves to be truly seen and supported in our most authentic selves?
Jade M.
For the longest time, I felt that challenges and hardships were the worst things to come into my existence. I avoided them at all costs. Hard homework was left ignored. Challenging puzzles were left unsolved. Difficult tasks were left uncompleted. To make myself feel better about avoiding these difficult tasks, I would tell myself that if it was hard, it probably wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that this was not the case.
As an incoming sophomore, I wanted my first year in a new town and at a new school to be a breeze. I felt that even though I was moving, I would still have my old friends and I wouldn’t have to worry about making new ones. On the first day of classes, I learned that I was very wrong. I was a stranger to my peers, and because of this, I was not spoken to. I had always been on the shyer side and rarely stepped out of my comfort zone. With my first day going terribly, I went home and cried to my mom. I didn’t understand why it was so much harder than I thought it would be. I begged her to let us move back so I could be back in my comfort zone. Instead of agreeing like I had hoped she would, my mom told me that even though this would be a challenge, I would get through it as long as I put in the effort. I didn’t fully believe this, but I decided to try, so the next day I went back to school and began talking to a few people. Though I was nervous at first, everyone began talking back and asking me questions about my old school.
From these brief interactions, I started to find a confidence in myself that I had lacked before. After a few weeks of small talk, I eventually found my best friends at my new school. Though moving started off as a challenge that I had never faced before, I was able to adapt to it. Because of the outcome, I began treating all the hardships in my life like this. Instead of avoiding the challenge, I embraced them. Now, I look forward to the challenges because I am certain they will bring positive outcomes. I learned more from challenges than I had from the easy thing that came in life. Though hardships can be unpredictable and nerve racking, they make us stronger and adaptable to the ever changing world we live in.
The lessons I learn from negative experiences have become more impactful in my life and made me question my value of the present moment, and the people around me. Not too long ago I made the big mistake of leaving my shop, alongside my friends and teachers who I respected very much to go and chase a high-paying job that I thought would lead me to success. I went to a trade school with my vocation being manufacturing technology. When I first joined the shop I knew that this might not be a good career for me as it’s not my style, but the teachers had my best interest in mind, and my classmates were like a family away from home. I knew that no matter what I would leave high school as a developed and good human no matter where I go. As a sophomore, I decided that I would spend the end of junior year, the summer, and all of my senior year in our school co-op program working in a factory. Going on co-op was doctored into my trade as it is a beneficial head start on a solid career, so when my teacher offered me that job I had no reason to say no. I knew it would be hard spending my final years away from my classmates, but I didn’t see the toll it would take on my overall happiness. I built up such a strong connection with my friends, and I threw away my final moments with them for a couple of extra dollars. The job was nothing like shop and if I could have I would have traded all the money I had made on co-op just to spend my senior year with my peers. I was not raised a quitter and felt this unbelievable pressure to finish out the year still employed in that job. So, that’s what I did. A lesson we all learned when we were younger is that mistakes are learning experiences, not an excuse to dwindle on the past. In this scenario, I struggled with that, and still do to this day. I wish that I had taken an opportunity to quit my job, but instead, I had quit on myself. Finding a positive takeaway from this ordeal was a long process that allowed me to discover myself. I established my values, and what I found at the top of my list was time and relationships. The bottom of my list was money and judgment. I now know that I would rather spend my time working at the zoo for minimum wage with my best friends, than working at a factory for very good money with people who do not respect my time or my character. I stopped caring for what other people viewed as a success and started going all in for what I thought success was. Now I live in the moment, work hard, and do it all while appreciating the present. Enjoy your moment because you’ll miss it if you’re looking backward.
Cecilia D.
Everything happens for a reason. It’s interesting how our perspectives evolve over time. The idea that everything happens for a reason can definitely bring a sense of peace and understanding, especially when facing challenging situations. When we’re younger, it’s natural to see things in a more straightforward in a cause-and-effect manner. We think our actions directly lead to outcomes, and while that’s true to an extent, there’s also an intricate web of events and circumstances that shape our lives. It’s only as we gain more experiences and reflect on our journeys that we start to see the connections between seemingly unrelated events.This perspective can be incredibly empowering. It helps us move forward with a sense of purpose, even when things don’t go as planned. Instead of feeling defeated by setbacks, we can view them as part of a larger plan that’s leading us to where we’re meant to be. It’s like finding meaning in the chaos and trusting that there’s a bigger picture at play. Throughout life there are many times when things don’t go as they are supposed to. At the moment, it felt like a significant setback. But looking back, you might realize that those experiences led you to new opportunities or personal growth that you wouldn’t have encountered otherwise.
Teresa M.
I believe in many things in science, faith, and more. I have been having experiences with God since I was a child. I have always loved oceans, pools, and being in the deep end, where I couldn’t touch the ground, and where the waves were as big as a tower. But my parents would never let me go by myself for obvious reasons. One day, my family and I were at the beach. I was building castles, running around, laughing, and eating ice cream, but I wanted to go into the water where the waves were huge. I begged my dad to come with me, and since I’m his little girl, he said he would accompany me.
He and I could never imagine that there was a huge rock that would make us trip and fall while a sequence of strong waves was coming. I remember my dad trying to push me towards the shallow end, and me being too scared and swimming back to him. Thankfully, the lifeguards helped us get out of the water. I was very young, but I will never forget that after we got home and showered, my dad laid on my tummy and started crying, thanking God, and apologizing to me. Faith is a very important matter to my family. Going to church on Sundays and praying before eating has been part of my routine since I was born. Throughout my life, l’ve heard stories about the big things God can do. Every time I look back on this specific story, I remember how big God really is.
Jaylen L-M.
In my younger and vulnerable days, I believed that beating a video game was an accomplishing feeling. That rush of dopamine pumping throughout my being when facing an intense level left me satisfied. Even so, what did I accomplish? I sought temporary success while everyone around me excelled. I procrastinated in completing my promises, which worsened my progression. This realization led me into seeking the path of success.
During my Journey I found resources that aided my growth. I came across David Goggins, author of a book called “Never Finished”, a book meant to unshackle the mind and win the war within, to free the mind from procrastination and to crave difficult challenges to help grow as an individual. Goggins doesn’t sugar coat; He is direct when saying you can’t sit around and wait for opportunities of success to fall in your lap. I recall Goggins saying, “if you stay where you’ve always been, you will never learn if you have what it takes to venture in deep waters.” It made me think, do I have what it takes to reach my goals?
After that realization, I started to be more active. I pushed past my physical limitations with martial arts, refined my reading habits, leveling up while increasing my mental, emotional, and spiritual state with the purpose of building self- discipline, the foundation of success. I’m still a student in the art of self-improvement and continue to invest time studying this philosophy. Would you invest your time to this ideology?
Joseph C
Throughout my life, I’ve been fascinated by religion. I’ve researched different religions and philosophies from all over the globe from Christianity to Buddhism and tried to get the most out of each of them, but one thing I thought was interesting was almost every one of them had one thing in common. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” was the first time I heard it and I guarantee many of you who have attended any CCD course have heard it too. When I first heard it I didn’t really pay much attention to it but I understood its premise, treat others well and they’ll treat you well back, but I was too young to have it resonate. As I started to read other scriptures from other religions and did vast research I kept finding the same premise pop up everywhere. This core principle was held in almost every religion and culture and I understand why. In this modern world filled with differing beliefs, ideologies, and political viewpoints you get pushed and pulled into different subgroups and tend to lose sight of this principle which causes us to attack the other side and vilify them. But at our roots, we are all people who seek the mutual goal of being happy and deserve to be treated with love and dignity no matter what or who we identify. Whether you’re religious or not by consciously incorporating this belief into your everyday life you might not change the world but you just might make someone’s day.
During my childhood, my parents took me to church every Sunday and always encouraged me to trust in God. It wasn’t until middle school that my personal belief in God truly began to take shape. During this time and into the beginning of high school, I found myself grappling with doubts. Around this time covid was happening and everything was falling apart.
However, as I became more engaged with church activities and focused on the positive aspects of my life, I began to recognize the good things and the blessings I had. This shift in perspective helped me rebuild my trust in God and reduced my doubts. Knowing that god is looking over me gives me comfort and reassurance that everythings going to be ok.
Even though I still experience moments of uncertainty, my faith continues to help me. When my trust wavers, I find strength and reassurance in the support of my parents and my church community, which helps me maintain my belief. I still have a lot to learn but i acknowledge that there are some things I’ll never fully understand, but what I do know is that my faith in God has been incredibly valuable to me.
Even though I still experience moments of uncertainty, my faith continues to sustain me. When my trust wavers, I find strength and reassurance in the support of my parents and my church community, which helps me maintain my belief. I still have a lot to learn and acknowledge that there are some things I’ll never fully understand, but what I do know is that my faith in God has been incredibly valuable to me.
Samuel S
Ever since I was 2 years old my mother brought me to church, I never really understood God or Christianity. I simply went to church because I was dragged along, soon enough I started to get more understanding of God and who he was, and with this came resentment towards him, all because of the same thought that goes through almost every Christian’s mind. “If God is good then why do bad things happen to good people.” From that point, I started to hate going to church and strayed far from God. Now this whole time I had a serious problem with identifying a father figure as my mom and dad split up, then my mom got remarried but I didn’t like the idea of another dad even though he might be a better one. Regardless, I always had a problem with this. Until very recently, when I had a complete change of heart, some might say it’s insane how fast it all happened.
I was at a church camp and suddenly I understood everything I had resented. Bad things happen to good people so they can reach a level of sensitivity towards God that I got to, it hurt but I got there. God answered my prayer at this camp for the first time in 17 years. It took a while but it was so worth it, I understood that no matter who my father is on this earth, God is my one and true father who will protect me from everything. You might not believe in God and honestly, when I strayed I didn’t either for a long time. At this camp, someone told me something that no one besides me would know, and then God started speaking through them in the first person. It was truly a phenomenal experience.
This was my belief that truly changed and the aftermath is even better. I instantly dropped sinful things. I didn’t even want to be near them, I felt a peace in my heart that I haven’t felt in a long time either, and now I just want to help others get to where I am today. I hope that I can make a difference in this world through God’s power.
I was raised Catholic. I attended church weekly on Sundays with my parents, to which I had no desire to go, like most children. I knew the God I was worshiping, but was critically unaware of the significance. I knew the basic principles taught by Jesus: love one another, honor your father and mother, refrain from cursing, etc. I knew the rules and the expectations, and nothing further.
My faith was consistent for a while, and by that I mean going to church every other Sunday, and dismissing the commandments, as I failed to see their importance. It was until the eighth grade, when COVID-19 hit, where everything changed for me. Everyone in lockdown had no way to communicate with the outside world, well except for social media, and that is what initiated a radical flip in my religious beliefs.
TikTok took the world by storm, flooding phones with trends, news, and propaganda, but for me, it promoted Jesus’ love and forgiveness. While most are depressed and lonely, I found a new identity in Jesus Christ.
I began reading my Bible and praying frequently, about anything. I no longer felt the anxiety or depression that came with the pandemic, I found peace.
Now, why do I believe this is important, and why should the UmassD community care too? Well, the purpose I have found to continue moving forward, despite the occasional lack of motivation, is something I can only hope to plant in everyone around me. Everyone deserves to be loved, Everyone deserves to be forgiven. And everyone deserves peace.
So to the crowd that may be struggling or may not believe they have a purpose, know that there’s an end to your suffering and a way out, and His name is Jesus Christ.
Growing up, I was far from religious. My parents raised me in a way where I did not have experience or knowledge about religion. The only connection I had to religion, more specifically Catholicism, was my grandmother. Because of her, I began to believe in faith, hope, and prayer which helped me during tough times. After she passed, I grew a deeper understanding for praying and used this method at my darkest times or when I missed her. Years had passed, and I had not prayed in a long time. I began to question praying, because sometimes it did feel wrong since I do not follow a religion. In 2023, I needed immediate heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. I was afraid for my life and how my body would react to the changes after the surgery. During this time, my family and I prayed more than I ever have before. On my second day after surgery, I was praying with my mother about being able to get my chest tube removed as soon as possible. We cried together and prayed to my grandmother for relief. Minutes later, the nurse came in and informed us that I could get my chest tube removed immediately. My physical relief was almost instant and getting that done felt like a true blessing. I felt like she was truly listening to me and sending love to me. This brought up a strong faith in my heart that I had not felt before and gave me a hopeful feeling that brought me closer to her religion. Now, I feel that praying is the best way to connect with my grandmother and I continue to use it not only when things are tough, but even when things are going well.
All my life I have been a devoted Catholic. Growing up, I was taught to love God and trust that He will always be there for me. After the 2nd grade, my parents enrolled me in a Catholic school where I learned a lot about the stories of the Bible and most of the Catholic traditions. Learning about all this and going to mass every weekend left me with the belief that my relationship with God would always be strong. Little did I know that in middle school I would start to develop bad habits that would lead me to have thoughts about my religion as I started to question many things about it. Eventually, I was distancing myself from the faith and made no time for God. I no longer had interest in doing many things for my church and was ignoring God’s help whenever I was having a problem.
All of this changed when my sister was diagnosed with a brain tumor called Medulloblastoma. Never in my life did I think that any of my family members would have to go through something like this. I didn’t know how to react to this situation until I decided to leave it all in God’s hands. My family and I prayed every chance that we’d get and eventually God saved my sister. God answered my family and I’s prayers and He gave my sister the power and strength to overcome cancer.
After all this I regained faith and trust in God and ever since have found any chance to build back the relationship that I once had with Him. I would eventually enroll myself into a Catholic high school where I would meet amazing people that have helped me in my faithful journey of regaining my relationship with God. God has sent me many invitations to try and fulfill this journey in the form of retreats and religious gatherings. God gave me the strength to accept these invitations and has helped me realize that I can’t live without Him.
As I embark on this new path at UMD I hope God will accompany me and give me the strength to overcome any obstacle thrown at me. I hope that I can fulfill my duties as a Catholic as I make time for God and become a better person.
“Turn to the Lord before it’s too late.
Call out to him while he’s still ready to help you.
Let those who are evil stop doing evil things.
And let them quit thinking evil thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD.
The Lord will show them his tender love.
Let them turn to our God.
He is always ready to forgive.”
Isaiah 55: 6-7
Jayden W
Church was always a big part of my childhood, My Grandmother and I would go to church every Sunday. It was the highlight of my week for me, I had church friends, I was in the children’s choir, and I had a great community. I fell in love with going to church and believing in God. As I got older I started to get busier with school, sports and social life so I naturally drifted away from going every Sunday. Although I wasn’t going all the time anymore I still stayed faithful and believed in him. I eventually stopped going all together, I would only really go if it were for a holiday. Even though I didn’t go as much as I had used to I enjoyed the holiday services. The services at my church are always amazing. Christmas and Easter are my favorites. I loved going but I just had so much going on because I was/becoming a teenager and was experiencing high school. Now, today I feel even closer with God, drifting away made me realize how crucial going to church is for my wellbeing. It brings me peace even during chaos that may be happening in my life. I’ve had a few very spiritual experiences that have made my faith for god stronger. I was put in situations where i’ve needed Gods help and every time it always works out. These experiences have ultimately led me to continue to grow my faith. They have also taught me to keep the relationships in my life strong and treat people with kindness. I’ve been able to invite my friends to come to church and be apart of the community and that makes me very happy to know that I can bring others around me to enjoy my church community as much as I do.
It’s great that church has been such a positive part of your life. It’s awesome how you’ve stayed connected with your faith and shared it with friends.
When I was young I use to go to AWANAS Open Door Baptist church every Thursday night with all the kids from our neighborhood. We used to play games outside like kickball and other fun activities, have snacks and just be kids. There was always a story told, they all came from the Bible. Usually I didn’t pay too much attention because I just really liked the games and obviously the snacks…always the snacks. One night though, they taught us about Moses. This was the first time I heard the story, but I just remember listening. At the time I didn’t realize how much it would impact my beliefs and morals in every day life. Incase you haven’t heard, Moses was a prophet of a God. He was both ordinary and extraordinary; not being the perfect example of Man but also capable of the most amazing things. I know I’m not a prophet of God but much like Moses I have had to fall and pick myself back up again. Much like Moses, I doubted myself and the wonderful qualities I had. People like Moses and I sometimes think that great isn’t within us already. My junior year of high school for example, I didn’t think I would make it to college or let alone continue to play my favorite sport football. For a while I was in a dark space and I didn’t see the greatness I possessed. Nobody knows this, but I thought about the story of Moses. It’s why I was able to push through. My senior year of high school I was finally grounded in my beliefs and the goals I have set for myself. God has a plan for me, I might not be perfect and my journey is going to be tough always, but I’m here.
Making a difference has always been a cornerstone of my belief system, shaping how I approach both personal and communal challenges. From a young age, I was instilled with the idea that true fulfillment comes from contributing positively to the lives of others, whether through small acts of kindness or larger, organized efforts.
One experience during my life that shaped this belief was the death of my Grandfather. Losing my Grandfather was hard, and to make it harder, I found out my Grandfather had a Do Not Resuscitate order. This came as a surprise to me. My Grandfather was one of the toughest and bravest people in my life; he served in the Air Force during the Korean War and faced many difficulties throughout his life. Despite all of this, I never knew him to give up.
When I heard about this DNR order, all I could think about was how it was unfair and how my Grandfather had given up. While this angered me at the time, I later came to realize that him having this DNR was not him giving up but him accepting that he has lived a full and meaningful life. With this realization I gained some clarity about my Grandfather. My Grandfather was a man of service, from his time in the military to his time in Church; he gave back to those around him every opportunity he could, and it was this giving back and service to others that gave him the peace of mind to leave this life knowing he made a difference to those around him.
Through this experience and the lessons my Grandfather taught me, I learned about accepting one’s fate and making the best of the time we have. Whether it is through community or military service, duty above self is the most essential belief one can have, and it is the belief that my Grandfather lived by his entire life.
Karma— what you give is what you get back. Karma is how I keep myself accountable and vigilant of my own actions. Hurt someone? The world will hurt you back. Some concept of karma even furthers how much you’ll be hurt in return— “she will get it 10 times worse”. As a Christian student, I do not believe in karma above my religious beliefs, but I know some have a stronger spiritual understanding than me.
I am familair with friends, television plots, and sometimes myself doing something wrong, like steal someone’s property, be unfaithful to a partner, or lie about about something, and then almost instantly or soon after receiving some equally ego-damaging or emotional damage be done back. I have also learn that sometimes we, (and me) do things that we know is wrong, but we never get caught. I have always been careful of my actions, to make sure I do not fall into consequences, naturally or spiritually, but we should not become used to doing the wrong thing just because we are not caught.
My parents are separated, and while I hate to examine this: my father may be the one to blame in the dissolution, however he seems to be living better than anyone. Some may argue that perhaps, he faces his secret battles, but it seems like my father may continue his whole life living happy as he should– he continues to be my amazing father.
Despite how easy or satisfying the poor choice may be, doing the right thing will make you feel good, but that examination is another lesson and post for another time…
Alena M. –
When I was a kid my mom always talked about the color purple. Now you may be thinking “what’s so significant about a color?”. Well let me tell you, the color purple has shaped my belief system in an odd way. It all started when one day I was sitting with my mom in the kitchen and she was talking about people getting married. While she was talking about people getting married she was also talking about people getting divorced. I was probably around ten at the time, and she started talking about how she has this idea about the color purple. She told me that out of all the weddings she had been to, anytime the wedding colors had purple the couple got divorced. Which honestly stood true with the evidence she provided. Ever since then my questioning of the color purple began…
Now I kinda consider the color to be bad luck; it’s the only color that I won’t wear or have anything of. Whenever I’ve worn the color purple, or have something with the color on it, it always seemed to deem “bad luck” whether it be making a mistake or getting in trouble that day. I’ve always been a big believer in noticing the little things around you, and purple is just something that I’ve subconsciously deemed as something to stay away from. My belief system was questioned at age 10, and ever since then I always look a little deeper than the surface.
What is Christianity without truly giving your life to Christ?
As kids, we’re brought up on the values of the people that raised us. The older we get, the more we experience life and can make out our own values. School and the friends you surround yourself around can also influence your values or the way you act. I grew up in a spiritual African household, which typically means we go to church every Sunday, choir practice on Saturdays, and youth service on Fridays.
As I got older, so did the temptations. The need to go to parties drove me farther away from God. I started to view Christianity as a “too strict” religion and stopped going to church altogether. I realized that I didn’t have my own relationship with God, just one to please my parents. But the more parties I went to, the more empty I felt. My friend invited me to her youth group services at her church. When I was there, the pastor was discussing building our own relationship with Christ. That feeling of “he’s talking about me” comes. At the end of the service, he asks if anyone would like to give their lives to Christ to stay behind. I stayed behind and prayed with the pastor. That was the start of my own relationship with God. I started to go to church more and learned the importance of reading your bible and prayer. I didn’t want to go to parties anymore and the empty feeling was gon
Ryleigh M
I believe in the power of faith. Faith is the little amount of light amidst the darkness. It is the little sliver of hope that allows us to persevere and conquer in tough times. My personal experience with faith came in a time of loss. When my grandmother passed away my family was heartbroken. Sadness, anger, and disbelief suddenly began to fill our lives. At the age of 9, I had to find comfort in the pain. Faith gave me a sense of solace and hope because it provided me with knowing that she was at peace and no longer suffering. The community around me provided us with food, advice and comfort. They had the faith that their actions would aid in our healing. Most importantly, this support comforted me in knowing that my Grandmother was at peace and with us in spirit. Faith is important because it fosters belief. Believing in yourself is the greatest motivation a person can have. Faith allows us to do remarkable things all because of believing. It allows courage to overcome challenges and the strength to get through life’s obstacles. Faith in the community comes in all forms whether being religious organizations, support groups, or charity all these things share one thing in common and that’s the power of faith. The belief that even in the worst, good will persevere because we believe. Faith unites us, gives us purpose, and allows support in times of need. When the human race believes in the good, incredible things are created.
From preschool to 8th grade I went to a catholic school. Starting catholic school from such a young age can be beneficial, as through your formative years the idea of God is instilled, making it a pillar in that person’s lives years later. However, for me the forcefulness of these beliefs made me almost turn away from God. When I left catholic school I didn’t think about the catholic religion for 2 years, atleast. It took me going through my own struggles in life, stress and anxiety, losing family members or large life events to grow into my own connection with religion. During my time at catholic school, the enforcement of having religion as your center was so obtrude onto us, I felt no connection to religion class or church, it was just assignments and things that needed to be done. My experience though ultimately impacted me greatly and I wouldn’t be who I am without that background. It allowed me to be curious enough to form my own understanding based on what I already knew, and a purpose behind believing in something.
Dimitris K.
I have always been Greek Orthodox Christian since I got baptized at ten months. For most of my life I had not been extremely passionate about my faith, and it was instead something I just accepted and went on with my day with. This stood true until the age of sixteen when I experienced a pivotal event that shifted my perspective on things. Towards the end of my junior year, a group of friends and I went to go buy flowers from the local flower shop for Prom. On the way back to school, we saw a yard sale sign and thought we would stop by. Once we got there, there was no sign of a yard sale but for some reason something told me to get out of the car to make sure there was nothing around. My friends then drove off as a joke, and soon after they passed an intersection down the street, where another car t-boned my friend’s car right where I was sitting in the car. I immediately concluded that it was divine intervention that saved me. Out of love and appreciation to God, I learned more about my Christian faith by reading the Bible, exploring secondary sources, and attending church more often. While learning more about my faith, I discovered how fundamental the Christian beliefs and values are not only to individual beings but also to society. I believe that principles that stem from Christianity such as forgiveness, humility, honesty, and kindness not only help myself be a better person but can also help those around me to be better people. Sometimes I wonder if that moment was just a coincidence, or the start of a purpose I’m only beginning to uncover.
Faith shapes humanity. It’s something that keeps people intact and in control most of the time. Many don’t believe in religion, many do. In my opinion, I think society needs something to believe in to not spiral over their existence or go crazy. As each year goes by and you get older, you question your purpose in life or its general meaning. Why were you chosen to live this specific life? Questions like these make 99% of the population dive into religion, faith and belief. Because no matter what kind of religion you choose, it always has one thing in common. A sense of purpose. Now for the other 1% of the population religion is something that is purposely excluded from a person’s life. Maybe a person doesn’t feel the need to depend on a spiritual being to control their actions and emotions. But for those 1% of people who feel satisfied with themselves are always looked down upon. They are seen as lost. Meaningless or a waste of space. I am that 1% of people. I am someone who has lots of questions but doesn’t want an answer yet. With my own experiences in past religions I’ve held onto, I felt unhappy. I see a lot of hypocrisy from the same people who talk about love and equality. As an ex-christian i saw this alot in my church. People were loyal to God inside of the 4 walls we call a church. But were always talking negatively about each other on the outside. Those same people who claim to be loyal to god, were the same ones vulnerable enough to degrade a person just for having a different belief or vision for themselves. This is what leads people to stay out of a religion. Because although there are so many loving and amazing religious people, there are always people out there to ruin the name. To ruin its definition. As someone who is currently in the 1% of the population, I believe this needs to change. Religion brings together, but divides together. Religion guides together, but distincts together. Religion loves together, but intimidates together. Religion helps together, but harms together. So back to my first sentence, faith shapes humanity.
Guevensha C.
I never liked the word “belief.” I think it’s too volatile. You are not one hundred percent sure about certain things, and at 14, when everyone is questioning your very poor decisions, it feels like you need bigger words to convey your feelings, so I preferred saying “I know.” I knew who I wanted to be friends with, I knew what I wanted to eat, and I knew the history lesson for the week. I knew everything until I didn’t.
The start of 2023 marked the peak of violence in my country. Faces that I would see every day became plagued by grief and fear and slowly disappeared. Every day, I knew my dad would pick me up from school at 2:30 on the dot. Now I could only hope that he would make it, and I hoped that he was safe. I could only believe that he would make it unscratched. I could only believe that I would get to school unharmed and that my friends and teachers would also be able to make it. For three months, that’s all I did. Believe. And then the violence became an afterthought. I would hear about it from my friends, I would see it on the news, and I would smell the aftermath in the streets, but still, I believed I was immune. Maybe I was, but the people around me weren’t.
After that happened to me, I knew that I wasn’t strong enough to believe. That I could only know from now on.
I first talked to her in the 3rd grade. It was raining so recess was held indoors. I was a timid kid and loved indoor recess. Indoor recess meant I could draw and be bothered by no one, but a girl walked up to my desk that day. That whole recess we drew together. I made a new friend that recess, one that I would call my best friend for the next 8 years. In our Junior year, we had a massive fight resulting in the end of our friendship. The girl I once called my best friend was now my enemy. I hated her. In the halls I’d glare at her in disgust. I wondered how she could throw away our friendship over something so petty. Senior year rolled in, I realized that the fall of our friendship wasn’t entirely her fault, but we both were to blame. My insecurity and immaturity prevented me from communicating. I knew I had to make things right. As graduation approached, the thought dwelled more and more in my mind. I finally saw her at a friend’s graduation party. There was a moment of silence before we both apologized for our actions. It was clear that time allowed us to grow beyond our immaturity of Junior year. It was nice catching up with her. I left that party realizing I entered a new chapter of my life, one where I will continue to mature from experiences like these.
Fabrice B
Many believers have gathered on Sundays to worship God for centuries, convinced that on this day they are building a true connection with him. But what happens if we’ve been misled? What if the true day of worship has been overlooked, forgotten or even changed throughout history? Imagine the profound impact of discovering that the day we chose to honor God may not be the one that he has appointed. For centuries the seventh day Sabbath was a commemorative day of rest to honor God woven through the beginning of time Jesus and the apostles even kept the Sabbath in the New Testament times so why do people go to church on Sundays then?. Throughout history Roman emperor Constantine, played a very major role, in the observance of Sunday worship. In 321 AD, Constantine issued a civil decree declaring it the day of rest from labor. It was Roman Emperor Constantine Sunday Law that exerted the greatest influence on the change in worship. Before Constantine’s Edict Christian were heavily persecuted by the Roman empire during this time Mithraism the worship of the Sun god was prevalent, and Sunday was a sacred Day for Mithraism. Members of the Church of Rome did not fully understand the Sabbath and began to worship on Sunday to reduce persecution. They rationalized Sunday worship by referring to the fact that Jesus was resurrected on Sunday. In 313 AD through the Edict of Milan Constantine stopped the persecution of Christians and legalized Christianity and carried preferential policies toward Christianity. However Constantine did not have a pure belief in Christianity, but just pretended to believe in God. So he could politically unify the Roman Empire through Christianity. Constantine also identified Christian God with his favorite Sun god. That’s why he called it the venerable day of the sun when he issued his decree. Through his actions Sabbath worship disappeared completely, and Sunday worship was established. Sunday worship was not something that Jesus and the apostles had taught, but the outcome of the decree issued by the Roman emperor who used Christianity for political purposes and identified God with Sun god Mithra. Sunday keepers say they worship God but in all actuality they worship the Sun god. Even many Roman Catholic Church bishops that worship God on Sunday acknowledged the fact that Sunday worship is not in the bible. Finding this out made me realize that a lot of the laws we follow are man made teaching that are not even in the bible. Modern Christianity has been built on lies and it has become very corrupt throughout history.
Rose D.
When I was a child, my mother used to tell me to be nice to everyone and to treat them with respect. As far back as I can remember, I have always believed that being nice was about doing what everyone else asked you to do. Never say no when someone asks you to help them, even if you have your own project, things to sort out, or to do something for them even if it puts you in a bad position.
One of the things that changed my mind about the definition of kindness I had created in my mind was when one of my wise friends made me realize that many people take advantage of someone’s kindness or the fact that someone would not say no to them.And those same people also believed that being nice is a weakness. I always say yes when people reach out for my help, knowing that some of these individuals would not do the same, but if I said no to them, I would feel guilty about it. If it is ok to say no, why do I feel guilty about it. Some people always expected me to be available for them even if I have my own difficulty to take care of and be asking unfair demand. And sometimes, I do not think it should be like that.
I believe kindness is helping people when they are in need, and kindness is also an act of love. It is good to be kind, but does it mean to put someone else need before yours?
I 100% agree, kindness can only go so far before it is taken advantage of, it hurts but it’s the sad truth of the world. The kindness you give out doesn’t always equal the kindness you’ll receive back. It’s okay to be mean or straightforward once in a while, it doesn’t take away from your character but rather, it builds it.
Sonder is an idea that is brushed upon, but hasn’t really been focused on as one grows up so it becomes very diluted and very simplified. Sonder is the thought that everyday people you see and people all around the world are living a life just as complex as your own. Its something that everyone is aware of, but it seems to be something that a lot of people ignore. As our society becomes more selfish, and selfishness is promoted, it becomes easier to stop thinking about the person to your right or to your left. My Junior year of Highschool drilled this sense of social awareness into me.
The point of the year when this idea was reimagined to me was January. At this point of the year I was stressed because of the amount of challenges that were happening in my life. I was getting ready to perform in a show, my friend group was very shaky and hostile, I was going through a messy break up, and a lot of other minor stuff. The hardest hitting thing that happened though, was my uncle dying of cancer. He wasn’t the most prominent person in my life, but the impact of his death hit like a truck, you will never find a man who was as caring, and gentle as he was. A very charismatic man was taken away too early, and this kindness being removed from my life took a toll on me, and combined with this other stuff going on, I was at a point where I felt that nobody around me could understand what I was going through, so I shouldn’t bother to get them to try. It was a very negative mindset, and very immature thinking, but its very easy to have feelings like that in a situation that heavy. I ended up losing a couple of my friends, and it became harder to prepare for the show, as I was struggling to keep up the motivation and fire I had prior to the news of my uncle. I would’ve continued like such if I didn’t become closer to this girl I met through one of my friends. She continually decided to talk to me despite my avoidance of other people, and always seemed so happy. So you could understand my surprise when I finally explained my situation, only for her to be able to relate strongly. She also recently had someone very dear to them perish to cancer. She lost one of her closest friends a few weeks before. The difference was that she was able to keep her composure and her attitude positive. And this was very inspirational to me, because here I am thinking that nobody would understand what I’m going through, and then you have the happiest person I know able to relate.
After our deep conversation about topics of that nature, I started to improve my social skills, and attitude again. After realizing that my experiences do not separate me from anyone else, but only serves as something that can bring me closer, I started to have a more positive outlook on the things I do, and really started to realize the different kinds of lives everyone was living. It was really eye opening to really start having those deep level conversations with people who were close to me, and other people I barely knew. These conversations helped me develop a new perspective surrounding the way I go and interact with other people. The show was very successful, and performances after that were even better. The people I worked with became so much more than just other actors and performers. Each and every person I worked with became unique rather than just classmates. To this day I remember my conversation with that girl almost word for word. I will forever cherish that moment, as it served to improve me for the better.
Everyone around you is unique and special, try to go about college without seeing other people around you as classmates, but more so a unique and complex person just as you are. You don’t know how they lived their lives so try to be respectful towards that. Taking time to understand the people around you beyond surface level can help change your own way of thinking and growing, but you can also help guide them if they so need it. All of our lives are different and complex, using the knowledge we’ve learned from our experiences we can communicate and create something truly amazing. The next time you see someone waiting at a bus stop, or laughing obnoxiously loud with their friends, remember that their life is just as complex as yours, talk to them, learn from them, who knows if they can add to that complexity.
I grew up going to church every Sunday. I read the bible and prayed frequently. As I got older, I felt myself begin to slip away from God. At the age of 10, I watched as EMTs busted through my front door and performed CPR on my Grandpa (whom I called Papa). I never managed my grief or allowed myself to cope, but I did place my blame on God. Why would he take away someone I loved? How am I supposed to live knowing someone who I shared a home with is dead? For eight years, I could never admit that he was dead. I had hoped this was all a terrible nightmare I would wake up from.
I continued to go to church every Sunday. I prayed to God, asking him why he’d take someone I loved. I prayed to God, wondering why he allowed me to watch as the EMTs failed to resuscitate my Papa. I felt each time that he never answered my prayers. But I have realized I was also never present with him to hear his answers. I pulled myself away from God because a part of me was angry at him.
When Covid hit, I never went to church as often. But during the midst of the pandemic and quarantine, I found myself in my bedroom, allowing myself to get close to God. I cast all my pain and anger onto God and felt a sense of relief in his presence. But that rebuilt connection was severed again in 2022. My grandma (whom I called Nana) had died in the hospital. It was sudden, and it destroyed me. I had gone to the hospital the night she died and saw his lifeless body. I cried and yelled at God. Why God?
So, I stopped going to church. It became one of the best decisions I’ve made. It’s allowed me time to heal and rebuild my relationship with God. I learned a lot of mindfulness during this time. I’ve faced many issues, such as anxiety. It caused a huge barrier in my relationship with God. I believed I was dramatic and didn’t need help. But the moment I cast my anxiety on God and got a therapist, I began to feel a sense of relief in my life. A relief I haven’t felt since I was a kid.
When I was younger, I believed that not everything had a reason for it. You always hear, “That happened for a reason,” but it can be hard to believe when you are in a seemingly never-ending cycle of lousy instances. What good can come from bad experiences? For example, when the pandemic began and dragged on. The world was surely crumbling in front of our eyes, and I kept seeing people online saying we would come out of it stronger than we went in. That seemed incredibly naive to me; no good was going to come from witnessing an illness strip us of family members, quality time, freedom, etc. I spent my days brooding, trying any hobby I could think of in the house. I saw no light at the end of the tunnel. Positivity was a foreign concept to me. Slowly but surely, the months passed, and I was entering school in person again. After a month of returning to school, I began to realize I was different. I was a whole new person. I was surprisingly more confident, motivated, and comfortable with my peers. The pandemic had changed me for the better. It was one of the first times I realized something good can come of something bad. Days passed and the year went on. By the end of the school year, I was able to fully acknowledge that the pandemic had a good ending for me. It seemed ignorant to believe that something good could come from one of the most traumatic experiences of so many lives, including my own, but I couldn’t help it. I was a new me, and that new me believed there was always good in the bad in the end.
Legacy. Something schools often mention to young students with impressionable minds in order to teach them about how their actions affect others. All I wanted to be remembered as was kind. As a result of this whether someone was my friend or not I wanted everyone to view me as a nice person. Yet as I went through high school I began to realize that keeping some type of “nice mask” was exhausting. Four years into high school was when I realized I had no need to put so much energy into being liked by others. What really instilled this in me was when I realized the less effort I put into the wrong people the more right opportunities I was receiving. I focused on myself, my sports, my academics. Being noticed for my effort and still my kindness towards others even if it was reciprocated. I made new, genuine friends who liked my personality and maintained this personality no matter what crowd I was in. Coaches and teachers would mention it to me personally and I grew to realize that being recognized publicly was nowhere near as good of a feeling as a one on one conversation. The past four years and maybe even possibly most of my life could’ve been better had I been given this advice earlier on. If teachers had told me to focus more on who I am rather than how others view me. Truly why does it matter how I’m seen if I’m happy with who I am.
I resonate with this and I think it’s very courageous for you to speak out on it. More people need to learn this and repeat it to themselves everyday. If people don’t like you for you, how will that ever make you truly happy?
Sofia AdV
My grandmother has been the firmest believer of Christianity and Jesus for as long as I can remember. My mother was the last of 5 kids and wanted to be the one to treat my grandmother well after the previous ones gave her a hard time or deserted her. That’s why, when I was born, my mother baptized me against her own beliefs. My mother knew inside of her that she was not strongly called to Christianity or to Jesus but she believed in my grandmother and loved her more than anyone. My grandmother goes to church every week, reads from her prayer book every night, and celebrates holidays like no other. She is the most pure, wonderful, and sweetest woman anyone could ever meet. Which is why I wonder so deeply, if she believed so strongly in Jesus, why didn’t Jesus believe in her? My grandmother was diagnosed with cancer when I was a preteen, and she fought it for years. At one point, it was stage 3 and my mother was a mess worrying about her. My mom left Jesus and has been a Jew since I was 6 but she never stopped supporting her mom’s love for Jesus. Even when it seemed Jesus gave up on her, my grandmother always believed. I found it hard to believe in a higher being but I adore my grandmother, so why does she have to battle so hard when all she does is devote herself to Him? I don’t know what I believe, I was converted to Judaism with my mother when I was 6 and have celebrated holidays and traditional Judaism, but I always find myself left unsure and unmotivated to believe in a higher power. I’m a woman of science, but I’m also a woman of my grandmother and I will always make that sacrifice for her if I need to. The question is, would Jesus?
Vincent Z
I’ve been told since I was a child that opportunity is for those who are prepared. But I don’t know how to prepare, or what to prepare. At the time, I didn’t understand that if you don’t have a goal, how do you know if that opportunity has arrived. It wasn’t until the pandemic that I got a little bit of a new understanding. Because everyone was in lockdown at the time, all I could see was classes and video games. Because I didn’t communicate with others for a long time, I gradually lost touch with the world and became addicted to the Internet world. When the epidemic was over and we returned to school, I found that because of my inaction this year, I had to study EL classes for another year. I can’t At that time, I suddenly realized that opportunities are for those who are prepared, that is, you are prepared for this opportunity, but when you improve yourself, when the choice comes, you will have a greater chance of grabbing it. If you don’t know what you want to do, or you don’t have a goal. Don’t stop, keep improving yourself.
Alison M
From a young age I was always told to never question anything to do with faith. Growing up people told me I just need to believe and everything will be fine. When hearing this at a young age I just agreed but life started to become more and more challenging and I started questioning what even is this thing called faith. I watched my mom and family go to church every Sunday and none of them seemed to question so why was I? When I was 16 is when I started asking questions about my faith and if there even was anything. Going to a Catholic high school not everyone there is religious so I got to see more more why I needed my faith but still never really knew what God really was. Was he just some guy in the sky. Like really what was he. After having all these questions I went to my Campus Ministry teacher and started asking questions and truly becoming part of the campus ministry community really helped me see and feel that it is just follow blindly but a real commitment and want to follow. Yes it may be hard to just follow something and not know but believe it will make itself known to you one way or another.
Kathleen H
Although my ideas are always changing and reforming, I hold the constant belief that in order to be truly happy in any sort of relationship, it is important to accept being alone. As humans, we constantly seek the approval of others and compare our lives to those around us instead of evaluating our own progress. When I was a sophomore, I desperately wanted my best friend’s approval. I often found myself wishing to be more like her: soft-spoken, good at sports, personable. In addition to my own self-doubts, she would speak negatively about my personality and interests, causing me to believe I was inferior. But because I had been friends with her my whole life, I was afraid of upsetting her and losing our relationship. I was also extremely self conscious and afraid of being alone. Eventually we did have a falling out that resulted in me losing a lot of our mutual friends. I felt extremely lonely in contrast to the many connections I had the year prior. I had no choice but to go to class by myself, sit alone during study periods, and occupy my free time with my own company. Although at first I was anxious about other people’s perception of me and felt sorry for myself, it ended up being the best thing that could have ever happened. I was able to discover a lot about myself and reflect on the entire situation that had happened with my best friend. I was also able to become comfortable doing simple tasks by myself without the constant need for other people’s approval. I believe it is extremely important for everyone to be comfortable in who they are as a person without the constant worrying and approval seeking. Once I was able to get out of my own head, I became extremely productive and focused my energy towards something important. This confidence and comfortability eventually helped me gain friendships and relationships that are healthy and meaningful where I can be myself and feel respected. If not for my experience with my old friend, I would probably still be that self conscious and overly anxious girl to this day. I might have still been in that unhealthy relationship if I had not found the peace I had within myself. In finding peace within ourselves, we can find peace in every other aspect of our lives.
Isairis V
Fear is a strong feeling. It controls the minds affecting how we choose to live our lives. The definition of fear is “an emotion or belief that something is dangerous or a threat to our person”. Fear robs many from the experiences life can offer. Fear tends to torment us when we want to try something new and step out of our comfort zone. Fear captivates our mind into believing that we are not safe and that we should stay where it feels we are. There are many examples in my life of people letting fear win. My cousin struggled in school a lot. So much so that he was held back in his junior year of high school. He was so embarrassed and in fear of what other people would think of him that he dropped out. The fear he felt caused him to miss the opportunity of graduating high school. Due to fear, he never got the chance to accept his high school diploma and walk the stage. Fear is a paralyzing feeling. When you feel it, you almost feel powerless with no choice but to bow to it. Many of us fear what people would think of us, what our parents will think, and what we think of ourselves when we look in the mirror. If we let it, fear will take complete control over our lives and prevent us from achieving the greatness we are meant to. The reality of the fact is, we do have a choice. We have a choice to defeat fear or give it victory. As we all take on this new chapter of our lives fear is going to be knocking at the door. It’s going to creep in and make us feel like we don’t belong and that we can’t go on. I believe every one of us can win against fear because the validation that we seek is found within ourselves, once we take the time and look.
Anyeli P
Spirituality and mindfulness shaped my life and what I believe in because when I needed answers for something I trusted in my belief, when I wanted something to happen in my life I had faith and trusted that everything would align.
My senior year of high school impacted me, it caused me to develop in my belief. My brother had gotten cancer, because of that I had to switch from in person to online to be there for my family more and cause less stress on my mother. In these times I had lost motivation for school and wasn’t on top of the things I should have been. After that happened I began to be concerned that I wouldn’t be able to go to college since I wasn’t in person. I missed a lot of dates for colleges and scholarships. My goal was to go to a university but because of this hardship I believed this goal wasn’t going to be accomplished since I wasn’t in school to talk about it with anyone for help and also being the first person to go to college I didn’t have the guidance I needed like most people did so I didn’t apply for college.
After graduation I was noticing everyone around me getting accepted into colleges all around and slowly every conversation I had with people my age was them getting into colleges or them moving away for college. I started to realize that I shouldn’t have given up so quickly on my goal. I decided one random night that I would start applying to colleges hoping that I would get in even though I knew it was too late. I kept an open mind and let my faith be in the hands of my future. I waited patiently and got accepted. I was so thrilled but soon after I started to lose motivation again because how would I pay for my school? I missed all the deadlines for financial aid, no matter the circumstances I felt like there was a setback. I decided to fill out my financial aid form anyways even though it told me it was past the deadline. Once again I had put all my trust in my faith; got a letter soon after and my prayers were answered and I got scholarships for school.
My belief is important to me and it should be to my community as well because it gives you hope; a light; a feeling that anything is possible. It can make you feel like you can overcome any situation/obstacle in your life and makes it possible for you to manage any emotional stress and anxiety. Motivates you to push yourself forward by taking action, also protects you from doubts.
Anne O
Growing up, God was always a solid foundation in my house, my grandmother, a pastor, would constantly pray over my cousins and me before we’d leave the house for school. That foundation from a young age gave me faith and confidence in something greater than myself. As a Christian in my walk with God, I believed that “Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life”. Jesus Christ’s life and teachings were, to me, the ultimate examples of divine goodness and truth. His path, though faced with persecution, demonstrated how God desires us to live-embodying love, compassion, and resilience. However, recently that belief developed after a recent sermon that I watched by Pastor Stephanie Ike Okafor, where she talked about the matters of God being within its creation. I learned that we are all vessels, created by God and we host God’s spirit within us, this is where our divine qualities and purpose derive from. In Genesis 1:27 KJV talks about us being made in God’s image, meaning reflecting God’s spiritual and moral qualities. Through this sermon, major key takeaways that helped me shift the way that I see myself and the purpose in my walk with God was by understanding my divine purpose and understanding what God wants from his creation and also understanding that we are a host of God and by accepting him and his truth God can be in oneness with his creation. Listening to this sermon allowed me to develop my belief and understanding of my walk with God, and reflect and realize that God was within Jesus Christ and his walk on earth which is why even in the face of adversity he overcame it and continued to spread the goodness of God. Pastor Okafor said, “There are many things we do, not because it’s our natural inclination but when the spirit of God comes in you, you begin to desire what he desires for you”. This brought me to the realization and understanding that once we acknowledge that God is within us and we embrace him in our lives, we can begin to fulfill our divine purpose. Our life is like an hourglass no one knows when the time will run out, don’t you want to know your divine purpose?
I do believe that everyone deserves a second chance.
While this is one of my stronger beliefs, I do believe all points can be argued depending on what kind of person you are and what your belief system contains.
During the time I have entered foster care, and became a member of my family to now, my dad has told me “blessed be the peacemakers.” While I think this can be interpreted many ways, my dad only intended it to be his typical “scolding”, either when I had decided to chase down my brothers when they consistently bothered me, or possibly 12 year old me throwing things at them instead of using my words. In a very ironic way, I have been told I am a very forgiving person and always have been. This may due to the realization I would be miserable if my mistakes were not forgiven or the mere fact I do not like to hang on to things for too long. I believe that forgiveness is something necessary for growth, and change but also a tool to better yourself.
During my years in foster care, one thing I never had was animosity towards my mother. At a young age, I was able to blame the disease of alcoholism and less the person it had taken from me. The act of forgiveness maintained the relationship I had with my mom until her very last breath.
Along with my friendships, they would never be what they are today without forgiveness. As my friends have made many mistakes, so have I. With forgiveness, comes accountability. Regardless of circumstances if you are not able to see perspective, you are bound to make the same mistakes and be stuck in a cycle of problems until there is a change.
While I could write much more about how forgiveness has bettered my life, I believe this is a shorter version of my truth. Forgiveness does not always have to be put out to others, but sometimes is necessary to display to yourself. Humans will make mistakes, as there is no one who is “perfect”. Being able to forgive, does not mean you forget…but means you can heal and move on.
A belief that I have developed throughout the last few years of high school is that everything happens for a reason. It’s somewhat conforming to believe that everything happens for a reason, but at times can also be heartbreaking to think that things happen even though it seems like there is no possible way to explain the reason for that situation. I realized how much I relate to this when me and one of my closest friends fell out during my junior year of high school. At the time, I thought this was the worst thing that could have ever happened to me. I loved and valued our friendship and to see that we were no longer friends really hurt. It was weird to think about going into my senior year of high school without my best friend. When me and my friend got into this argument and she broke my trust, I no longer wanted to be her friend. Which was a hard thing to do because I did truly love having a friend like her by my side. At times I would find myself asking “why would something like this happen to me?” Or “why would someone who I thought cared about me do something like that?” While I searched for a reason why this happened, I felt like there was no reason. I felt as if sometimes bad things happened for no reason at all. It was until the day I met who is my best friend right now. We met through mutual friends and instantly clicked. I never realized how much I needed a friend like her in my life. Becoming friends with this person was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Sometimes I ask myself if you can’t find a reason for your pain now, have some trust that better things are on the way for you even if it doesn’t feel like it. If it wasn’t for the argument between me and my friend, I would have never met my best friend I have now. I truly do think that everything happens for a reason, even if it doesn’t seem that way in the moment.
Jazziry R
I always believed in God for as long as I could remember, but there were points in my life where I was not serious about my faith, especially in an educational setting. I would avoid sharing my faith in fear of being shunned from other people, despite others sharing their beliefs without fear. I wanted to be more courageous but I didn’t know where to start. Recently, I went on a mission trip to Honduras. I went into the trip feeling like I wouldn’t be used, and that I shouldn’t have decided to go but as the trip started and the week went by, I gained experiences that not only left me humbled but gave me a new sense of courage. We did home visits on the first day of the trip so we started hiking up a hill the community was placed on. An alcoholic man was following us and started asking us questions. The majority of us tried to ignore the man since he was probably just drunk but throughout the day he still persisted and walked with us to all the houses we visited that day. When the last home visit was wrapping up, a pastor in our group wanted to pray over the man who walked all this way with us but the pastor couldn’t speak Spanish. I noticed and knew I couldn’t preach but I can speak Spanish. Despite my hesitation, the pastor really wanted to pray over the man so we teamed up and decided to try to plant a seed in his heart. We managed to reach him and pray for him leaving him overjoyed in tears. As we walked towards our bus, the man we had just prayed over walked back home filled with happiness after the experience everyone shared that day. This experience taught me not only to be bold when sharing the gospel and that I shouldn’t hide my faith because of fear, but that anyone can be used for their different talents.
Yes Jazzy! You were the only reason we were able to do a lot of things on this trip God really used you In amazing ways I can’t wait to help bring God to UMass with you!
Sam M
My thoughts don’t matter to anyone unless someone decides it means something to them. Although it may sound harsh, it is one of the many mantras that allow me to stay grounded and mindful throughout the day.
You can bring a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. Our beliefs and thoughts work the same way. We can’t make anyone listen, nor do they have the obligation to. I used to challenge the latter because, wouldn’t it be rude to only care selectively, especially if prejudice is involved? I wouldn’t disagree with answering yes but allow me to explain… if you’d like.
Humans are naturally curious, knowledge-driven beings. We’ve been in tribes and communities for as long as we’ve been around, and we love to share and gain perspective from others. But on the flip side of that coin, we also experience hardships in one form or another. When this happens it can cloud our ability to be the social, investigative creature we are, and we stop listening to others. Although friends and family (and even strangers) may want to help us through such moments, often, others piling their ideals on us doesn’t help.
With this in mind, at times instead of conveying why our opinions should matter to others, I believe we should focus on refining them for ourselves. And even if not for the self, then for those who are ready to listen; don’t you want your message to be as concise as possible? We should be questioning our beliefs to either strengthen them or find the flaws and create better ones. We should focus on why we have our views and how they can assist us in our lifelong journey. At the end of the day don’t we want to make sure we commit to something worth believing in?
Josviel D.
As a little kid I grew up in a Christian household where we believe that Jesus is God that came to earth in human form. But when he died on the cross he arose on the third day . As a little kid I just thought these were stories that my grandmother would just tell me I didn’t really know anything about it but 3 years ago I started going to church because there was a situation going on in my house so I started going to church and then I keep going and I started to get into it . And now three years later I’m in the faith that my God Jesus Christ will come back and this time he’ll bring us with him . And the reason i believe this is one day i was in church and a special preach came to preach the word of God . And i was praying for a while for God to speak to me but then a lot of an events were happening in my life that i started to stop believing . And then that day that the preacher came everything changed i went up to the front to get prayed for i went up and then God just started speaking to me and everything he said was everything going on in my life and the only one that knew it was me. And i just started bursting tears and from that day i knew i need to change because God told me that he had big plans with me. But the reason I told you this because if God could get me outta the streets and get me out of who I used to hang out with and all the bad things that I used to do he can do it for you too he can change your whole life around no matter who you are I’m proud to call my self a Pentecostal and no matter what I will always follow him because he took me and saved me he has saved me from death he has saved me from sickness he has save me from my own mind. And if you want him to do the same for you all you have to do is believe and accept him as your one and only God all you have to do is find a church and find your self with God. He can do it all he can save you from your self he can save you from depression, suicide, anxiety he can save you because he is the God of gods he is the Lord of lords he is the King of Kings and nothing is impossible for him he does it all. He provides when you need providing he puts food on your table when you need it he give you what you desire all you have to do is believe and ask for it. Your going to go through trails and triumphs but as long as you keep your faith strong as long as you believe he can do it he will do it. But the question that I got for you today is if he can do it for me why can’t he also do it for you ?
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the lord are everywhere keeping watch on the wicked and the Good.
Choose your side are you the wicked or the Good?
Kyleigh R
Have you ever met someone and thought, “How is that person still alive? They make a lot of bad decisions.” Well until about a year ago I was that person. I had anxiety and depression, as do a lot of people my age now, and I did not care what happened to me. Well, that changed and it was not by my own doing. I finally decided to build a relationship with God. This has changed not only my life for the better but also for everyone who knows me. Having a relationship with God has given me an alternative perspective on all my relationships with the people in my life. I now have so much love for everyone I meet. I volunteer regularly and even went on a mission trip to Honduras. There is not a single part of my life that has not become better since Christ entered it. But I believe that everyone could have a better life if you build a relationship with God. I have had many people ask me “What if after everything in the end you find out God isn’t real?” I would respond; If we get to the end and God is not real, I will tell you I do not have a single regret. By letting God into my life, I have not lost a thing, and yet gained everything. But if in the end he is real and you did not have a relationship with him in this life, you have gained nothing and lost everything. So that is the best change I have ever made in my life, how it has affected others, and why you should consider letting God into your heart.
Nana O-B
Despite being born here in the U.S (Worcester, Massachusetts), I consider Ghana to be my first home. I was sent there at the age of one and would live there for 8 years with my grandma and my aunt. It was a wonderful period in my life. One that has shaped and impacted who I am today. Living in Ghana, I grew up in a Christian household. We strongly believed in God and I read my bible every day and would pray daily, once in the morning, and once before bed. These weren’t chores for me. I strongly believed in the Lord and I adored my religion. Fast forward to 2016, I would finally return with my grandma at the age of 9 going on 10 to live with my parents. This is where “trouble” would strike. I don’t like to put blame on anyone or anything because I believe everywhere you go has it’s issues. But my faith and my religion would begin to dwindle once I came back home. My parents weren’t at home to supervise and guide me (I don’t blame them) as they often had to work a lot to put food on the table and my grandma wasn’t the strongest person. I would begin to neglect my religion and my God over the course of many years. Many bad habits and different things would pull me away from God. I began suffering with some serious anxiety problems back in middle school going into high school and all that time it felt like I was alone. Like there was no one to lean on. I would cry myself to sleep every night, worried about my future and thinking on issues like “If I don’t get all A’s I won’t get a scholarship to college.” If I don’t get a scholarship to college my parents would go into debt from paying all my college bills” They would be disappointed in me and on and on, my mind would swirl with these thoughts. It was very hard to control them and it wasn’t until COVID struck, despite what a sad period it was, it slowed everything down for me. The lockdown allowed me to take a break from a lot of things. My academic life (for some time), my social life, even my my physical life were all bettered by the fact that with nothing to do and nowhere to go, I would sit down with my parents and listen to our church’s service which was now being live streamed on YouTube due to the lockdown. And I listened, like really listened for the first time in a long time and it was God speaking to me through the pastor. He spoke to my very being and the very issues I was dealing with in that time. I dashed to my room and would break down crying. For the first time, I was seen. I was understood and I did not have to utter a single word. The Lord came looking for me and dragged me out of the dark hole I was residing in. I was a sheep who had gone astray, and like the Bible said in Matthew 18: 12-14; “….If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.” It is not an easy thing to live righteously each day but like he has done before, he is always there to pull me up when I fall and thanks to him I have never returned to that dark and isolating place of anxiety and worry.
Donovan B
Something that I heavily believed in over the last couple years of my life and of high school is that everything happens for a reason. I used to always stress over little things and be worried when something didn’t go my way. As I got older, I started to not be worried and just go with the flow of things, and it really changed my life for the better. The event that gave me this thought was a couple of my friends were leaving my high school and transferring to other schools. It was upsetting to see some of my friends leaving, but I knew that there was a reason, and this could be a blessing in disguise for me. Them leaving allowed me to meet new friends and become way closer to kids that I wasn’t that close to. I believe that everyone should think this way and always try to see the positives over the negatives in all situations. People at UMass Dartmouth can use this belief because maybe they have to take a class they don’t want to or are in a new class they don’t know anyone in. If they give it their all they could end up loving the new class and end up changing their major to mold around this new class. They could also meet someone new in these classes that could end up becoming their best friend for life. I’m going to go through this year of school with this mindset and we’ll see how it works out for me.
July 2, 2024 at 2:17 pm
Christine A.
When humility is mentioned, the first thing people think of is humbleness. However, I believe that humility encompasses far more than being humble. Humility may manifest through service, extending assistance to individuals we prioritize their needs over our own, embodying selflessness. One day my mother went to return an item at Burlington and mentioned she’d forgotten it in the car. Instead of offering to retrieve it, I stayed silent, and my cousin stepped in. This missed opportunity reminds me of the importance of actively seeking to serve others, regardless of personal feelings.
Another form involves holding back when tempted to react. My youth leader shared a personal story of her strained relationship with her mother. A few months after giving birth, my youth leader was involved in a car accident. Later on, her mother falsely accused her of never reaching out. My youth leader contacted her several times, but she intentionally chose not to respond. My youth leader bit her tongue and even apologized although she had all the facts to make a rebuttal. If I were in her shoes I would have reacted differently. Her reaction is another form of humility I aim to achieve.
My journey through exploring humility has been an eye-opener. Acknowledging areas where I need to improve is one thing but improving it is another. Whether it’s by rendering service or practicing restraint each has contributed to my personal development. Even though I may stumble along the way I approach humility with a newfound commitment.
July 4, 2024 at 4:47 pm
I found the idea humility being more than just humbleness and helping others than ourselves to be very interesting. The two stories about humitiy were helpful when understanding about what being humility is actually like.
August 16, 2024 at 3:53 am
I used to identify as an Athiest. Believing in things like the big bang, and that if it wasn’t scientifically proven or logical it wouldn’t make sense. This belief kept me close minded, disconnected & in a spiritually unaligned place. I was easily aggravated and not mindful of my words or routines. Entering senior year called for growth and new hobbies, which lead me to meditate. This self regulating activity opened my mind, rewired my perception, perspective and conscious. Meditation brought me closer to myself. I started feeling the urgency to apologize, show, praise and prove to god i was worthy of being his child. Through those actions god brought me peace. He showed me what it is like to live as one of his children & i never turned back. God has been able to fill me with a feeling of love, faith, patience, integrity & ambition i have never been motivated with. This change in perspective alone has changed my life for the better in more than some aspects. This shift/ belief has helped me overcome financial worries, existential crisis’ and all type of heartbreak through remembering gods peace & wisdom. I’ve been able to be slow to anger, very quick to show gratitude and live in the moment. Remembering to love all of my brothers and sisters, being mindful of my tongue, not cursing over my life or others. This relationship with god had granted me confidence and security. Also ultimately leading me to cultivate friendships with beautiful and holy women also on their journey to eternal peace and success. I believe those who seek god and are connected to the universe feel an undescribing peace which inspires & motivates them to continue to praise his word. I believe everyone is a child of god however not everyone is a believer. This spiritual connection can be formed in many ways but only nurtured through his word.
“Do not be Equally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has christ with belial? Or what part has and believe with an unbeliever? – ll Corinthians 6:24-15”
Are you a believer? If so what makes you that?
If Not what can you do today?
August 17, 2024 at 12:23 pm
I would describe myself as Agnostic. I have never been a religious person, but this post was a perfect explanation of how religion and faith can bring people hope and light in dark times. I really enjoyed reading your perspective/story. Thank you!
August 30, 2024 at 4:27 pm
I also wouldn’t describe myself as a religious person but I agree with you in the sense that this really does show how religion and faith can bring hope and light in dark times. Everyone goes through some dark times and I know a lot of people who first turn to god and pray and the story told is very nice to read.
August 26, 2024 at 5:44 pm
Amen all the glory to God he does it all he changes everything as long as you stay firm with your faith in him he can do anything
August 30, 2024 at 11:22 pm
I agree, it’s good to serve others out of pure kindness instead of doing it to expect something in return. Holding back while being tempted to react is a problem I can relate to due to the personal struggles I have had with hesitation in the past. I believe the best way to counter it is by not overthinking everything you do.
July 12, 2024 at 5:31 am
Hannah W
I have somehow grown closer to god since I’ve stopped going to church. It sounds antithetical, I know. I grew up there.
My mother passed when I was four. I was too young to understand but all I knew is that she wasn’t really there.
My Papa was the first death that I truly remembered. Going to church meant it was a place of mourning for my Nana and the rest of us. And I began to hate it.
Nana began pointing out things that reminded her of Papa to make it feel like he was around. She went to church to feel closer to him, while I felt more and more distant.
I stopped going.
I questioned who I was relying on to bring me closer to my mom and grandfather. Those “signs” didn’t mean anything to me.
Until he took her.
If god was real, why would he take her?
I found myself looking for signs.
Soon, I started seeing the hummingbirds. Silly, I know. But I grew thankful. They always seemed to show up-without fail- on days she should have been there.
Going against traditional values by not going to church made me feel like a fraud. But I found a way I could connect myself to God that worked for me. And that meant that it was okay to show my faith in a different way than what I had grown up doing.
Reevaluating my view on what it meant for me to believe was not a sin. Redefining something that didn’t resonate with me helped me find its purpose in my life.
August 2, 2024 at 6:33 pm
I really relate to this, having dealt with some trauma throughout childhood as well. For much of my life I asked “if God is real, why would be put this on my shoulders?”
It was after no longer attending church and instead worshipping God in an individual way that it made more sense. Religion while typically being a group activity, is so individual because humans are all different. I’m so glad you found a way to redefine this for yourself and found purpose in your religion again 🙂 Wishing you the best.
August 12, 2024 at 3:01 am
“I have somehow grown closer to god since I’ve stopped going to church.”
This line that you said I agree so much with. there was a period in my life I was going to church by force and never because I wanted to. this made me hate the idea of church and made me not want to grow closer.
August 13, 2024 at 8:01 pm
I totally understand what you’re saying! I feel like a lot of people also struggle with the same thing. We can all worship the Lord in our ways 🙂
August 16, 2024 at 1:56 am
Exactly,it doesn’t have to be physical church.whatever you feel is the best way for you to connect with god.
August 15, 2024 at 4:54 am
I relate to this, especially the death at such a young age. The church felt like a constant reminder of the trauma and loss I experienced. I found myself closer to God when I didn’t go to church. I had felt so judged and misunderstood when wasn’t following the traditional values. I am glad to see someone who had a similar journey in religion as mine.
August 15, 2024 at 10:14 am
Hanya M.
Ever since I was in my mother’s womb , the concept of church was already instilling my head ,my family considered church and important place and early demonstrated what it truly meant to love and worship God. As my age increased I began to go more depth with myself and explore my faith. As for someone who grew up in a church believe it or not the deeper concept of having a relationship with God, I was not ready for. There was a point in time in my life where I began to believe that my faith wasn’t as strong and I felt very distant with God , it has seemed that all the teaching I learned as a child just went away . I can agree that faith is very hard and it’s something that you yourself have to find consistency for , it hasn’t always been easy for me to believe the great works of the Lord. Until one day i just had enough the summer of 2023 came hard, but just like that I gave my life to the Almighty God, I decided that it wasn’t worth the hurt anymore , it wasn’t worth the pain to so I took it up with myself and made that big decision. I will say making these decisions are really important and once you do , your life will really change only if you work and put the effort needed to be where you at, consistency is key ,to achieve that goal and I would say wherever you are in life , if you go through a tough time finding something to help and finding faith will definitely help in the long run.
August 21, 2024 at 4:25 pm
This very well captures the struggles of your faith, illustrating how deeply personal and challenging a relationship with God can be. Your story about initially feeling distant from your faith and then rediscovering it highlights a relatable experience. Your reflection on the importance of consistency and the personal decision to fully commit to your faith is very inspiring.
August 29, 2024 at 2:12 pm
I agree 100%. Faith is something’s that’s either instilled or brought onto you towards a path. I always too had felt my connection with God has felt distant at some points but I always had the sense that he was still with me and that made me want to ask questions. As well as to being more vulnerable with God on our one on one time.
August 16, 2024 at 2:31 am
I resonate with your post, in most times of my life I wonder to myself why God would ever put me in certain situations that he would ever put me in a position to have to fight with myself. I grew up in a church as well, as I grew older I stopped attending and I started building my own relationship with God. Slowly getting closer to him and building an understanding with him.
August 16, 2024 at 2:52 am
That first line really hit me hard. I’ve been struggling with the fact I have to be at the House of the Lord to remain a Christian. I feel like from my past I was able to reflect on myself and grow my relationship with God without people forcing me to go to church when I can talk to him and grow my relationship with him from my own comfort zone.
August 22, 2024 at 1:41 pm
I can relate to this I recently have gone through trauma like this and I have to stopped showing up to church and slowly started to lose hope and my faith. But I had events in my life that have helped me to get back to my faith and start going back to church.
August 23, 2024 at 9:37 pm
Many times I felt that home was where I could feel closer to God. Everytime that I was nearly forced to go to church felt like I was feeling closer to the pope mainly because that was true: we were in the same church at the time of the sermon. However, I really connected to God when I was at home because I felt like I could be at peace and just talk to him there. Maybe it’s just because my gaming chair is more comfortable than the wooden church benches or that there are not as many strangers around me, but I’m glad someone else thinks that church isn’t needed to be close to God.
July 15, 2024 at 5:29 pm
Ava N
I grew up a strong catholic, participating in Sunday school and teaching once I was confirmed. However, I never felt I truly believed what I was learning/teaching. I completed the course to make my family happy, but I actually felt very conflicted. I thought if God was real why do bad things happen to good people. This confusion led me to believe God wasn’t real. I disagreed with the church about many aspects of life. I truly thought people made up God and Jesus to explain things we can’t understand, like miracles. After about a year of feeling this way, I started to learn about other parts of the country junior year in history class. I learned about different religions from other countries, some of which are similar but others that are extremely different to Catholicism. This inspired me to understand my belief a little more. Many people interpret Catholicism differently. I realized I didn’t have to abide by every single thing I was told. I started to believe in God again realizing he understands humans are not perfect. I would feel guilty for every single thing I did wrong, when I started to realize God made humans imperfect for a reason. Once I stopped feeling so guilty I found comfort believing in God and spirits. It has taken me a while to be comfortable with my belief, but I feel confident now understanding I may not agree with everything the church says, and that’s ok!
August 2, 2024 at 6:35 pm
I love the way you phrased this! Many people, including myself, struggle with the idea of “If God is real, why do bad things happen?” Your response to that was wonderful!
I’m happy for your confidence, wishing you the best 🙂
August 5, 2024 at 1:23 am
Your journey is truly inspiring. It’s wonderful to see how you’ve navigated your doubts and found a personal, meaningful understanding of faith. Embracing your own path and finding comfort in your beliefs is a powerful experience.
August 12, 2024 at 10:55 pm
I really resonated with this. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one to have struggled with my religion and have found someone that has felt the same as me and has been in a similar situtation as me!
August 14, 2024 at 1:03 am
i really resonated with this!, I grew up Pentecostal and was always sort of expected to fall in line and go along with whatever my parents expected of me. it took a lot of self-work to build my faith back up to what i knew it could be and have more of a relationship with God
September 4, 2024 at 5:44 pm
I understand your perspective on this. I also grew up in a household that was very strong on faith, I always went to church and listened to what people insisted what God would want me to do but I at that young age I didn’t feel I truly had a relationship with God. Now that I have gotten older and went through hardships I began to lean more towards God for answers no one else could give me. It gave me reassurance and a belief that something better for me was coming in the long run. I agree with the statement ” I may not agree with everything the church says” a lot because at the end of the day it is only me and God’s relationship and we shouldn’t tell each other how we should live through God only guide and advise each other.
September 5, 2024 at 3:40 am
Thank you for sharing your journey! I found it relatable in many ways. As we grow, we makes mistakes and growing up in the church can sometimes make you extra aware of said mistakes. But learning to not feel so guilty and finding that comfort in God is so important to solidify your faith in God!
July 18, 2024 at 11:59 pm
Jorja B
Personal space is a belief people tend to question a lot when they get older. Some people want to know everything in your life down to the last crumb, but they also do not realize they are invading that person’s personal space.
I questioned this belief more when I got older and became legal age and even after. When you become an adult, fill out applications for jobs or even college applications, they want to know your life story and how you became who you are today. It makes no sense sometimes why those specific people will want to know if my parental guardian collects from the state or if I have a veteran in my family rather than knowing my skills and knowledge. That is not going to help you figure out if I am qualified for the job position or how my parents can provide.
Applying for job applications in the real world is an example of wanting to know more than what they should know. Why does the job have to know if the household gets food stamps or welfare, shouldn’t they be asking you about the knowledge of the job itself? It is the same way with college, they categorize based on the student’s life history and if they can pay for their tuition based on their family history/ income and the smarts of the student.
We should think more about this belief because a lot of people are being judged more on their background and family circumstances than who they are. Other people should be hired or accepted based on their knowledge of the information, not their background or what they have been through.
July 23, 2024 at 11:40 pm
Sophie C.
I believe in communication
Not just communication that happens when having casual talk with someone, but communication on a deeper level. As a child growing up, I wasn’t involved in an environment where my parents would explain why I was being punished or why something was happening that I couldn’t seem to understand. I believe this caused me to form my own kind of understanding and beliefs and really helped to form a sense of identity in myself. I identify as someone who likes to communicate everything. I want people to hear my side of the story as well as me being able to showcase how I understand theirs. When huge conflicts appear present to me, all I want to do is to be able to talk and experience all the emotions that come with it. This skill is something that will be used a lot in my pursuit of wanting to become a nurse, as it’s untimely a test for deciding what is best for a persons case and why I think that way. I understand that communication doesn’t come as easy to everyone. I believe with the right amount of patience, mixed with the right amount of effort and compassion, the words will just flow. Communication has shown to not only connect others, but to share ideas and cause influence on a group or a community. I am going to need a lot of guidance during my next four years, and to get advice that’s best for me, I have to communicate.
August 6, 2024 at 4:51 pm
Katherin P
American pastor and writer Charles Stanley once said, “Trusting God means looking beyond what we can see to what God sees.” As a little girl, I was taught about God and the religion Christianity. Christianity is the largest religion worldwide, teaching about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit known as The Holy Trinity. Believing in God is having faith in someone unseen for instance Paul the Apostle said, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (King James Version, 2 Cor. 5.7). Even though I cannot see God physically I have faith he exists.
As a child, I suffered from petit mal seizures, also classified as epilepsy, and is most common in children rather than adults. Petit mal seizures caused me to space out for brief seconds. Throughout this obstacle, I had faith that God would make a miracle like when he cleansed a leper, healed a crippled man, and healed a woman’s hemorrhage. Now that I have outgrown petit mal seizures with the help of God, I no longer take anti-seizure medication. When there is no cure for the ill, faith may be the last resort.
We all have obtained knowledge of multiple religions through listening to people and reading. I believe others in our community should listen to Christianity because It shows a perspective of one religion out of roughly 4,200 religions. Learning about various religions, we obtain a sense of respect towards other cultures and beliefs. Death means life to believers. What does death mean to you?
August 9, 2024 at 12:39 am
I agree with you. With faith and patience in Jesus, everything and anything is possible. You are never alone on any obstacle. It is not something a lot of people do. I am still working on being more patient but I have been put in situations where I have to be patient. I think God uses this as a form of learning for me.
August 9, 2024 at 12:43 am
What a good way to express how God’s power is. I went through a health situation as well as a baby and with the power of prayer and fate I was able to live life.
August 6, 2024 at 5:23 pm
I could not agree more. I am also pursuing to become a nurse and during high school in the medical assisting shop, they always emphasize the importance of communication. Communication is vital in everything we do. I will admit at first I wasn’t the best at communication but I have gained an understanding of the importance of communication and now do my best to communicate.
July 26, 2024 at 2:16 am
Grace K
I wasn’t going to hell because I was gay when I was 12, It was because I was unfriendly, because I was selfish, and because I listened to Melanie Martinez.
These are the things that you think you’ll go to hell for when you’re 12.
I didn’t realize how much of my faith had been built on guilt until I was 15 and I read ‘The Call of Cthulhu’.
First of all, awful story. Legitimately bad. Reads like a car manual, The author’s super racist, and my teacher only gave us two days to read it. Triple whammy.
But the concept of the cult of Cthulhu is insane, because the members don’t actually like Cthulhu. They know that he’ll destroy everything and they help him. It made me think, if there was no god, would I be upset?
Or is my god just as evil in my eyes as Cthulhu?
This train of thought almost made me leave Christianity for good. At that point, I decided to take a deeper look into myself and what I believed.
One thing that Christians have to come to terms with is how our own religion has been bastardized for hundreds of years so that people can use it to control others.
When people live in guilt, not only do they destroy their own lives a little at a time, but they also continue the stupid game of telephone that Christianity has become subject to. Religion isn’t supposed to hurt, and I’m done putting myself through hell to become worthy of heaven.
Because no one is ‘worthy’. We all sin, and I choose to believe God loves me, and I choose to believe God doesn’t want me to hate myself.
July 31, 2024 at 5:04 am
This is so real, I support anyone who uses religion to better themselves and I’m friends with a lot of good people who are like that, but not those who try to use it to control others. Love is love and I really don’t understand why people have had SUCH a problem with it for centuries? Like even a lot of literal animals are gay, it’s so crazy how people can’t just accept one another.
I also really like Melanie Martinez, do you wanna be friends? LOL
August 11, 2024 at 6:05 pm
Lol, the animals thing is so real. One time I went camping with my super homophobic church and two families had both brought their male dogs, you can assume what happened there, and, dude, people started actually freaking out. one of the families had to leave. it was so funny.
Also, yes, I’d love to be friends. 🙂
September 2, 2024 at 1:48 pm
Related this one, Religion is about spreading kindness and love. People will just use religion as a shield to spout their hate. Glad that you were able to keep your faith and grow!
July 28, 2024 at 5:20 pm
Anastasia S.
I believe in redemption.
I grew up in a religious African household. As a kid, I went to church every Sunday, listening to my teachers and what my parents told me about God. But as I grew up, I went through various points in my life where I questioned my relationship with God and where I stood with him. I had my ups and downs and that took a toll on my mental health. I always asked God what I did wrong in my life that I’m suffering mentally. It felt like I was failing at life and there was no reason for me to be happy. My grandma passed away about 2 years ago and her death impacted my family. I had many questions about life and one thing I noticed was that I wasn’t happy that I was living my life filled with sadness, anger, and anxiety. There were times I was very emotional and cried and asked God for help. He answered my prayer for help and he provided that for me. One thing I learned about God was that he has many plans for my life and to help me I needed to make that first move. That stuck with me since and now I’m going to college it’s up to me and God, and with him by my side I know I’ll be able to connect with others who are like me and learn their stories as well.
July 31, 2024 at 9:16 pm
This is very beautiful, and you are very strong. God can make beautiful things happen, and he’ll always be there in our time of need. It’s ok to be shaken in our faith every now and then, however, it’s important to always remember that God loves you and he has a plan for you.
August 26, 2024 at 6:21 pm
❤️🙏🏾
August 12, 2024 at 3:15 am
This story is a great example of how god tests us. I also went through a time like this, it caused me to question many of my beliefs but I held on to them. And I am very grateful that I did because now that I am out of that situation I see how it helped me grow as a person and that it was all apart of god’s plan.
July 29, 2024 at 2:55 am
Mia L.
Growing up I was able to see many religions but was raised as a devout orthodox. I was also taught that belief and faith will always be two of the most important pillars in life. When I was just a child I would go to church and sit in the pews and look up at the various icons that depicted scenes throughout the time time Jesus lived and after he died and would wonder how all of them are still remembered and how they weren’t lost in the growing of the world and civilization. I’ve always loved the stories and the icons at the churches growing up. I was lucky in the sense that I got to visit many different Greek Orthodox churches because my father is was a traveling priest and I would see all the different saints and icons of the scenes of religion. Often I think of my beliefs and my faith to the orthodox church and how one day it all changed for me. One day in 2018 my dear grandfather died and he was very dear to me and I would spend as much time possible with him but when he died I blamed myself because I prayed to god to not let him suffer his illnesses anymore, the next day he was gone and my heart broke and I thought it was my fault that he died. Before my grandfather passed away I never truly doubted God and why things happened but after I found myself doubting God almost every day and I distanced myself from the church that I once considered my home. I constantly asked God why he listened to that one prayer instead of all the others that I had asked of him to make my papa better and not to fall sicker, those fell on what I believed to be gods deaf ear because he was busy with listening to everyone else’s prayers. I asked him day after day why that one prayer he decided to act upon why. I doubted him and thought well if he could grant this one prayer why could he not listen to others prayers about hunger and dying crops of illnesses. One day I decided that I couldn’t keep living in a constant depression and blame over myself that my papa had passed I was falling deeper and deeper into my mind and it was a very scary place at that time so I went into my back yard and sat on this boulder that we have and just talked and talked for what seemed like hours but was probably only 2 hours. I asked god once more why? Then I just decided to tell him all my thoughts and poured my heart out to him and for some weird religious reason I truly felt him as if he was sitting right next to me with his arm over my shoulders taking everything in. I apologized countless times for all of the doubt that I had for him and that i was sorry that I was so angry all the time and wanted to stay unhappy because I thought it was what I deserved. I asked him if what he did by listening to my prayer was a miracle? No one ever answers me when I ask. Was it a miracle or was it just fate? Every now and again I still doubt why God does things the way he does but I’m honest with him and prayer to him for forgiveness when I do.
July 29, 2024 at 9:22 pm
Janelle A.
I was born & raised Christian, but it wasn’t by choice, so I had never entirely felt like it was a religion for me. Although I was a believer in spirituality, I didn’t believe my God was a man who died on a cross & he is who I had to look up to. Attending churches growing up, there was a lot of scamming, pedophilia and controversy. The Bible itself was rewritten and translated over thousands of years and to my understanding, put fear and obedience within its follower. From a young age, it gave a me a terrible outlook because I didn’t like how it would control, and I wasn’t exactly sold on the Christian dream. It’s understood by the Bible that homosexuality is wrong and should be punishable by hellfire, but as I got older, I tried to dance around that rule. Maybe if I suppressed my romantic feelings for the same gender, I would be safe. Everyone around me tried to “protect me” from it because my older sister came out.
And like most Christians, my immediate family was under religious psychosis. They told me that she had a disease from when we used to live in the ghetto, and I just remember thinking this is whole ordeal with my sisters sexual orientation was obsessive and weird. Crazy enough, diabetes runs in my family and she’s the healthiest one in the home. In October of 2021, I had my first queer awakening. Me & an older girl made some intense eye contact & I felt a deep and sudden attraction. Above all things was regret and guilt because I knew in that very moment that there wouldn’t be any “going back”. These feelings were present all along and the longer I suppressed them the stronger they were. I had forced myself to find happiness within the opposite sex gender but, no one could make me feel that intense attraction like my gender could. I battled with being queer for the rest of my high school experience because it was something I wasn’t allowed to understand. I wanted to believe in something that wasn’t deciding my destiny but instead guiding me through what it could be. Eventually, I concluded that I couldn’t follow the ways of the Bible or live up to gods specific expectations. Upon further research, I found that there is no real evidence of this God. Coming to terms that there it wasn’t a “master plan” and that you have to choose your own journey really gave me a push into pantheism. I found comfort in this because it’s not necessarily a religion, but a way of thinking. It includes reverence, awe, wonder, and a feeling of belonging to nature and the wider universe. It teaches you respect and active care for the rights of ALL living beings, recognizes life as a joyful & privileged experience, & promotes strong naturalism. It’s understood that God is within nature and throughout the universe & it really raises the question as to why wouldn’t anyone want to follow this way of life. The higher you raise your vibrations, the deeper you go into your spiritual journey. This can be done by meditation, spiritual cleansing, and so much more. Although some may not agree, I really think that they should understand that this mindset gives me a sense of self and allows me to live as authentically as possible.
August 14, 2024 at 3:04 am
Leiliane D
For most of my life, I hung to the belief that being independent is always solving problems single-handedly that real self-sufficiency meant handling my mental health issues alone. Seeking assistance was viewed by me as a sign of weakness since I believed that doing so would weaken my independence and strength.
However, high school put this concept to the test in dramatic ways. I faced various periods of anxiety and stress. It wasn’t until I started seeking what I needed from God, that he showed me that asking for help is not being vulnerable, he showed me that I could open up to trusted people in my life that they would find a way to help me. Seeking help from prayer helped me realize that seeking help did not lessen my independence, rather it strengthened me by God giving me the right tools. I realized that mental health and independence go hand in hand.
As I enter college, this concept of freedom becomes essential. I now understand that by putting my life in God’s hands he will do the rest for me. He will give me the confidence to ask for help when I need it.
As I embark on this period of change, I am dedicated by putting all my trust in God. I hope to negotiate college life with resilience and more self-sufficiency.
July 30, 2024 at 6:11 am
Indigo F.
Does anyone really know who they are, or are we simply portraying a character that we believe is who we are? As human beings, we constantly try to put on a face for society, acting perfect and happy when no one is ever that person. I believe that there is no such thing as a true self. Being authentic with friends, family, and significant others is attainable. Once you are around strangers, suddenly people put on a facade. The standard is to smile always and never falter, make sure your hair and makeup is perfect, wear appropriate clothing and never, ever show you’re anything but perfect. Once you take off the mask, you are left vulnerable and viewed as weak.
As humans we are constantly changing, learning, and growing into our real selves. The National Institute of Health describes true self as “a cognitive schema representing those aspects of the self that are considered, by the person, to be most emblematic of his or her true nature”, touching on the fact that the contents of a person’s true self may not relate to someones ‘real’ self. Being a person who has witnessed changes in others, for better or worse, it makes you wonder how you have grown as a person. Truth is, everyone is growing everyday without realizing it. Each decision you make changes you. When you wake up or go to bed, what you eat, what you watch on tv, and how you choose to act towards others everyday makes the biggest impact.
I think people can never truly be themselves because no one knows who they really are.
August 3, 2024 at 4:57 pm
I totally agree! To be honest, ever since I started my spiritual journey I’ve really started to understand that you don’t FIND yourself. We aren’t meant to find ourselves, we are meant to CREATE ourselves. Whats exciting about this is that, due to the law of attraction how we think, feel, act & speak (manifestation) , really gives us the power to shape our person into anybody we want to be. Great take!
August 6, 2024 at 5:33 pm
I like how you mentioned that “we are constantly changing, learning, and growing into our real selves.” This is because as humans we make mistakes and more often than usual we learn from those mistakes. These mistakes will usually form us leading us to change and grow constantly. As for me, I am continuously trying to become a better person and I feel like I can do that with the help of God.
July 31, 2024 at 4:11 am
Kayla P: Self-Love
My core belief is that self-love is the most important aspect of anyone’s life. Society tells us that we have to be pretty but we have to stay humble. We have to be skinny but not underweight, even though modelling agencies heavily promote eating disorders. We have to do everything we are told with a smile on our face. Societal expectations are enough to drive anyone mad.
I developed an eating disorder after a traumatic friendship break-up. Without realizing, I used skipping meals as a coping mechanism to the thoughts I found were too overwhelming to face. I believed being skinnier would make me prettier, therefore happier. It eventually spiraled into anorexia nervosa. I was severely underweight and I hated my body more than anything. I was almost dangerously skinny, yet I still saw the word “fat” on the scale. I obsessed over the numbers. My weight, calories, BMI, everything. Starving myself in the perfect way was an addiction. I needed control. I kept telling myself I would stop once I got down to a certain weight, but that number would keep dropping further and further. I was chasing a perfect illusion that would bring me to my death if I didn’t put an end to it.
I accidentally ended up going in the opposite direction and developed a binge eating disorder, rapidly gaining weight. During this, I idealized my sickest body: the body I had when I was at my lowest, unhealthiest weight. It wasn’t until I had a friend tell me how terrified they were for me during the sick moments I craved back, how horrified they were from how much weight I’d lost. Those words shattered my heart and my entire perspective. I looked back at the photos and no longer saw my prettiest self, but my sickest. The version of me who almost commit suicide from this trauma. That was the day I chose recovery and to begin loving myself. I chose not to let the evil voice in my head keep winning, controlling my every move like I was a puppet on strings.
Believe me when I say recovery wasn’t easy, but choosing it was the best decision of my entire life. I slowly started regulating my eating patterns and stopped looking at the numbers on the nutrition label and the scale. I began loving my body for what it was, not for what I wanted it to be. I didn’t need the slimmest stomach, I needed to feed it the food it was desperately begging for. Now after recovery, I look the best I have ever looked. I don’t just want to be beautiful, I am beautiful. I am beautiful because I tell myself I’m beautiful. I was never going to live up to unrealistic beauty standards by insulting myself in every which way. Society’s opinion of beauty will never be accurate. It doesn’t matter how much of an hourglass figure Victoria Secret supermodels have, true beauty is the beauty that shines within.
My self-love journey saved my life. It not only cured most of my body dysmorphia, but it showed me countless reasons to live that I couldn’t see under all the darkness. All of the torture when I was fighting against myself was transformed into all of the beauty in being my own best friend. I didn’t need back the traumatic friendship I had lost because I had to love myself first before anyone else could.
I believe in self-love being the best thing anyone can do for themselves. I believe in the fact that things will always get better, no matter how suffocating they may feel. I believe that life is worth living. I wrote this for anyone feeling stuck in self-hatred or low self-esteem. My story is living proof that if I can do it, so can anyone else. Everyone has the power to change their lives for the better. To love yourself is to be kind to yourself, to treat yourself as someone you love. It will never appear out of negative self-talk. I want people to really read this and reflect on everything they bully themselves for. Is it something that will truly make you happy once changed, if it even can be? The people thinking about brushing my message off after reading this far, are most likely the people currently suffering the same fate I did. Thinking that “skinny enough” will happen one day. May I ask, has hitting your goal weight ever been enough for you? When you didn’t feel the need to lower it and starve yourself, torture yourself just a little bit more? How much more of this can you take?
August 2, 2024 at 7:30 am
Now this isn’t part of my essay, but I wanted to include this:
If you are one of those people, believe me when I tell you you’re not alone. There are people who care about you that you might not even be too close with yet. To anyone who needs help or simply just wants someone to talk to, feel free to reach out to me in the replies, or you can find me @kayla.pimentel1 on Instagram if you wish to message me privately. I also recommend getting professional help such as a therapist but if that financially isn’t an option for some, the national eating disorder hotline is (800) 931-2237.
People typically glamourize eating disorders in today’s society because it is a belief that beauty is pain and that food is the root of all evil. The only pain true beauty gave me, is the pain that transformed into freedom after breaking out of the handcuffs that the self-deprecating voice in my head had trapped me in. Sure my wrists hurt after I broke the metal, but my scars healed once my heart healed. The human body needs food for energy, don’t take away its joy. Don’t take away your joy.
August 10, 2024 at 12:11 am
This takes so much strength and courage to not only acknowledge this to yourself but to the world around you. I may not know you very well, but based on what I do know I am proud of your accomplishments, and I admire how you took control and changed for the better. I have friends who have been through similar situations and it’s always amazing to see how they face the challenge and come out on top. I know that for me there was a period of time where I also struggled with my eating habits, although it wasn’t as severe it drained me emotionally and mentally. I had lost around 15 pounds in the span of 2 1/2 weeks. Eventually my mother had noticed, and she encouraged me to eat more and to realize beauty isn’t in the eyes of society but rather in those who love you, in a God that made you in His image. So, I thank you for talking about something that many people may be afraid to talk about and for allowing me to open up a bit about my experience. Don’t forget you are and will always be beautiful!
August 12, 2024 at 12:31 am
Thank you so much❤️. Even if yours didn’t last too long, that’s still a lot of weight that was lost and I’m happy you had a loved one there to help you before things got too far and to remind you of what really matters. I’m proud of you for stopping before it was too late and for seeing yourself for the beautiful girl you really are. You’re welcome to talk to me about it anytime, you’re so brave for coming on here to tell your story for others to hopefully be able to validate themselves from. An eating disorder is valid no matter how long or short it went on for. I don’t see enough people talking about it in the way you did so I’m glad you did and I’m happy you’re doing so much better now. You’re such a beautiful person inside and out and I hope we can be friends on campus <333
August 8, 2024 at 6:41 pm
This so so well written and such a beautiful story! Self love is so important and yet so hard to achieve and I am so happy to read how much it helped you. This topic is something I can definitely relate to and am glad to be able to see someone else who has around the same experience as me. I am proud of where you are today!
August 9, 2024 at 11:19 pm
Thank you so much <333. I hope you’re doing a lot better along side me and I’m sure you have so much to be proud of too❤️🩹
July 31, 2024 at 9:06 pm
Olivia J.
As I began to experience life more I’ve concluded that the reason so many people feel the weight of loneliness is due to their fear of self-expression. Everyone around us is so focused on what others think of them that they hide themselves from being truly seen by others. This leads people to the idea that there aren’t those around them who can relate to the situations and beliefs in their lives, ultimately leaving them to feel lonely. However, when the few people that do let their guard down and allow others to see the true them, it is only then, they will attract like-minded people that they can relate to, and thus end the cycle of loneliness. I discovered this to be true during my senior year of high school. My whole life I had been raised to be very involved in the church and my faith. All of this made me feel very alone and small in a public school considering I thought there were no kids that would agree and believe in the same things I do. This led me to keep that big part of myself private from my classmates, though doing so also made me feel like no one had ever truly known me. However, in my last year, I was allowed to show that part of me to my peers through a mandatory project at my school, called a senior project. I chose the topic of how religion, specifically Christianity, is somewhat of a dying faith in America, and how that must be fixed. I worked on the project throughout the entire year, and it was scary and nerve-racking at times. Although, through this opportunity, I learned that I wasn’t alone in my beliefs. I attracted like-minded classmates to talk to me about that subject and even got others curious about it. Ultimately, I concluded that if you don’t open yourself up to the world, you will always feel out of place and lonely because you are hindering yourself from meeting others similar to yourself. It is with this that I ask, if you are somebody who feels or has ever felt lonely, could it possibly be because you were afraid of the scrutiny or judgment to show yourself to others? If so, what will you do to change this?
September 2, 2024 at 4:48 pm
This is a beautiful story when it comes to self expression. Just like you I also just started living life as I wanted to senior year. And it’s true, you do start to attract the crowd you want to be around when you are just relentlessly yourself! For many people religion plays a huge part in this as well but not so much for others. Instead of focusing on bringing back “faith” in the religious sense to people I believe we should bring back having faith in other people. Loved reading your post and hope all is well!
September 4, 2024 at 1:16 am
Choosing to open up and interact with those around us instead of feeling isolated is a liberation, an invitation for the soul to express itself. Many people can relate to your experience, myself included. Your question at the end is a strong closer that made me think about it from a different perspective.
August 1, 2024 at 7:01 am
Never give up on your dreams 💌
I grew up in an average black family. A family built on the strength and guidance of the perpetually “strong” black woman. The women in my family are accustomed to placing their goals and dreams last and it’s not because they deem themselves as less important it’s because there is a generational cycle that perpetuates the idea that black women such as myself need to give up everything to satisfy others while keeping a small part of our hopes, dreams, and aspirations alive. That notion is something I cannot fathom but it’s the sad truth for the women in my family and I believe the cycle of women lowering themselves to hold others up needs to end to understand why I believe this Here’s a brief background on The women in my family. Sheila my aunt works in the local DMV but always had dreams of becoming an aircraft pilot in the Air Force, Sheila struggles with mania and had a son at the ripe age of 19. She had big dreams but once her son was born she stopped dreaming and started living for him. My nana Kendra has done a little of everything she sings, she acted at one point and now she works in health insurance which we can all agree is a very practiced job but it’s not what she planned on doing Kendra has always wanted to be a professor and influence young minds. As a young mind herself she gave birth to her son at 15 and she stopped dreaming, granted she sang and acted but she never truly lived out her dreams now doesn’t that sound familiar? Lastly my Amazing great-grandmother Tilla well her story is complex. She was originally from Savannah Georgia and she moved to Connecticut during the Jim Crow era to find more opportunities and escape discrimination on her way here she met my grandfather and after her endless attempts to persuade her she went on a date with him to the now sacred heart cinema and that one date turned into more dates and those dates turned into babies those babies being Sheila and Kendra. My grandmother was the start of the generational cycle of women in my family dreaming big and falling into a dim reality due to having children at a young age but unlike Kendra and Sheila, my grandmother never stopped dreaming. Despite being new to Connecticut still she began to apply for higher-paying jobs to support her new family and she began working at Sikorsky Aircraft as the first black woman to be employed for hands-on work. She got up every morning at 3 am like clockwork for 50 years living her dream and working on planes because she knew how truly important it was to keep her dreams alive not just for her sake but for the sake of the women that would come after her. Now I didn’t tell you about these women for no reason I used each of their stories to make a statement about a belief I hold near and dear to me. And that belief I was taught for generations is that you should never let anything or anyone keep you from achieving your dreams because you only get one life and the last thing you should do with it is not support your goals and hopes. I feel as though we all find reasons to delay things that we know will make us better whether it’s exercising, reading that new book TikTok keeps magically recommending you, or taking a leap of faith and trying something completely random and new and I’d like to say that life is too long to waste it on saying “I’ll do it later” and “maybe’s”. The time to live is now not later because the day you decide to stop trying or let a minor setback keep you from a major comeback is the day you lose your power in life and if it’s one thing those 3 strong women taught me it’s that I should never let anything or anyone take away my power and keep me from my dreams. We should all go for what makes us happy even when we feel like we’ve been set back because we can always make up for lost time. think about it 50 years from now do you want to think of what you could’ve done in your life or what you have done with life?
August 1, 2024 at 11:51 pm
I’m Analise, and I am a first year Freshman and a belief that I have continuously developed over the years would definitely be my belief for open mindedness. Over the past few years throughout high school I have learned that trying and experiencing new things is not a bad thing, but something that is good for you to learn what you like and don’t like. Something many teens probably experience is going through jobs while in high school. Some of the jobs I have tried would be working on a farm, a car wash, in a restaurant and fast food places. Going into these jobs I knew I would have to go in with an open mind cause I never had any experience in this kind of workplace or any experience at all. My first job was Wendy’s and I wasn’t really open minded when I went into this job because my coworkers were very hostile and they were not the nicest of people to work with. This experience made me think every workplace had the same type of environment. While working there we ended up getting a bad hurricane and they shut down, then I ended up working at Outback. I’ve had my fair share of jobs from leaving the job to weather destroying the place I worked at but at some point they all had the same lesson for different reasons which was open mindedness. I’m glad I got these experiences at the jobs I’ve worked at because I feel like a part of it shaped me into who I am today.
August 2, 2024 at 1:03 am
Jovanah N.
*The* general idea of being thoughtful and mindful of other’s thoughts and feelings seems obvious, yet I think this *action* is a skill we forget to teach and practice. There are times when putting aside your feelings to understand someone else comes naturally, but I’ve also noticed when it is completely foreign. I’ve always thought *of* this belief as a given, that there was a base level of *understanding* of each other in all of us. Yet *being* in my formative years as the world was changing around me just as frequently as my emotional state, made me more *aware* of my world and shifted my perspective. The past decade alone has made me question the emotional intelligence I’ve cultivated and whether that will be reciprocated to me as I go through life.
I was raised Catholic, and even when I branched out to a non-religious high school, I was always surrounded by a community that prioritized and encouraged kindness. Yet in both *of* those spaces, I was faced with conflicts between peers, bullying, and discrimination; moments where people lacked the practice of compassion. So I’ve never thought of this belief as tied to faith or being a part of a certain religion, because no matter how my faith wavered this stayed constant to my identity; this is just part of *being* human. However, taking a step back and a lot of introspection and reflection on what has happened— moving, chaotic friendships, COVID-19, familial losses, dividing elections, and witnessing overwhelming violence to so many people— has me questioning this belief as well.
Is this belief innate? Am I *sensitive* for thinking so?
I think, *to* understand how others view the world is stepping outside of ourselves for a moment. Given the environment we’ve grown up in, this has become increasingly harder to do. Especially growing up on social media *and* in a significantly emotionally volatile time, I’ve noticed my peers and myself detaching from not only ourselves but from how we view other people. Research has shown that social media has diminished our ability to bond on an emotional level, to momentarily live *vicariously* in what the other person— similar to us or not— is *experiencing*.
This is hard to do. And I want to acknowledge that of course, but we aren’t wholely victims of our circumstances nor entirely responsible for collectively lacking this skill. We’re on track to become one of *the* most educated generations in the US. This is empowering— yay we’re so smart— but also concerning that we don’t prioritize emotional intelligence as a part of our education. And we weren’t taught to. How do you find that connection to *feelings* even in yourself if you were never shown how? It’s the muscle we aren’t told needed training, especially today. But I believe it is crucial to have this in today’s society to understand and connect our *thoughts* and the world around us. I think it’s a subtle change in mindset but has a significant impact on how we interact with people, especially in such a divisive and combative environment. Stepping out of my head *and* taking the time to hear and learn from my peers’ *experiences* helped me gain a better understanding and new perspective on a class discussion. At that moment my belief helped further my knowledge and strengthen my sense *of* community between me and *another* student even when our views were distinct.
**Empathy** is one of the most important and overlooked beliefs I have— it’s reflected in this essay: the bold words are Merriam-Webster’s definition of empathy. Having empathy is actively shifting your perspective. Have I shifted yours?
(The bold function doesn’t work in comments 🙁 which I didn’t know until I was submitting… so the * point out the bold words)
August 2, 2024 at 6:30 pm
Bennett M
For much of my life, I had struggled with the idea of God. This was largely due to the contrasting opinions of God and Catholicism that surrounded me. The church I went to was made of people who interpreted the text and used it for hate, who deemed me a sinner at conception and judged me as a child for decisions out of my control. The other was supportive of my identity and past but hated the church for the extremists they had met.
It was difficult to attempt to find a medium between two extremes. Neither side accepted or wanted me for how I truly was. It was when I was at my worst during high school that I realized how individual the world is meant to be. I was struggling with mental health and trying to find a place that accepted me.
The thing is, God accepts and loves all his creatures as they truly and authentically are. In trying to fit myself into one group, I felt I was defying this. When high school was completed and left room for reflection, I reached my most secure spot. In being and discovering myself completely, this is the closest I ever felt to God. I had finally found a way to be comfortable in myself and my religion, and I know and believe now that God loves me how I am.
August 5, 2024 at 1:21 am
As a child, my parents and grandparents consistently took me to church and spoke of God’s greatness, encouraging me to worship Him throughout my life. Until middle school, I never questioned His existence or my faith in Him. However, as I faced bullying and various hardships, I began to doubt. I felt abandoned by God and isolated, which led me to lose my faith and push Him away.
This period of doubt was challenging, but it eventually became clear that I was not truly alone. My family remained steadfastly by my side, offering unwavering support. Recognizing their presence and love helped me rediscover my faith. I came to understand that God had never abandoned me; He was always there, loving me more profoundly than I had ever realized.
With this renewed perspective, I was able to overcome my loss of faith and significantly alleviate my depression. My family’s support, coupled with the understanding of God’s constant love, restored my belief and brought me comfort. I am now more devoted than ever to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. This journey has reaffirmed my faith and strengthened my commitment to a life of worship and gratitude.
August 5, 2024 at 10:06 pm
Alyssa D.
My belief that I have developed over the years is God. The belief in God is an acknowledgement of a higher power that goes beyond our understanding of the universe. It stands for a deeply personal and spiritual connection that guides people in their journey for meaning, purpose and moral direction. Growing up around my religion and going to church every Sunday with my family were very formative experiences that ultimately led to my belief in God. Sunday school became a ritual for me at a very early age. These experiences have gradually altered my perception of God’s role in my life, placing in me a sense of reverence and familiarity with the principles of my faith. This provided me with a feeling of purpose and direction in my life, which is comforting and strong at difficult times. It is an intense sense of relationships to something way bigger than oneself, which promotes appreciation and compassion for others. A person’s worldview is shaped by their belief in God, which also affects moral judgments and encourages responsibility for one’s actions. Ultimately, having a belief in God improves lives by providing direction, comfort, and a framework for comprehending the complexity of life, whether through formal religion or personal spirituality.
August 6, 2024 at 5:07 pm
I could not agree more. I also attended Sunday school where they taught about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. These lessons will always be stored at the back of my mind, giving me a foundation in moral values. I like how you mentioned that God provides direction and I could not agree more because God always has a plan for us.
August 10, 2024 at 10:49 pm
I really enjoyed reading your post, it really reminded me of my walk with God. I agree with your statement that having a belief in God improves lives, and I believe so to. Though I didn’t attend church regularly, I was enrolled in a Christian school where they helped guide and form my beliefs to align with biblical principles. My Christian influences helped give me a strong godly foundation that I can live by. The point I am at in my walk allows me to recognize God and his character throughout nature and by daily life, even if I am not actively pursuing Him.
August 6, 2024 at 9:39 pm
Yuxin X
I’ve been sticking to my parents’ plan for a long time. They have their expectations on me, and always pushing me towards that ultimate goal, while not knowing all those persuasive commands had put huge pressure on me. In my opinion, all actions taken should receive whether a reward or a punishment to measure its correctness. This judgment system is what keeps us on a positive track, at least what we think is good.
However, the feelings we sense from the world is such abstract, there will not always be a voice guiding you. I’ve dug deep into this topic. Eventually I found out there is no such “end” for the world, yet our lives. Never heard about anyone telling us about the feelings of the deaths, I became afraid of death. How lonely the void would our soul bear; How enjoyable would living in heaven feel like; How obnoxious would hell be? So many people dedicating their whole life accumulating wealth to inherit or enjoy, renown to be remembered and worshiped. Will it affect the afterlife(if there is)? On a scientific perspective, our lives would literally end after our deaths. Non of those what we did within our life span really matters. But this way the meaning of life would be neglected. Don’t you think being able to feel the things around is lucky enough? Not feeling literally anything is scary to think of. I became so afraid to anything that could have a little chance to get me killed, from walking on the street to extreme sports or wars. I’d also started to figuring out the meaning of life. I was so frustrated and tired thinking of this. I couldn’t do any thing with passion at that time. Luckily, a high school teacher of mine told me not to think and stuck rather keep going on. Months later after I put aside my concerns, I’m so glad to be born, to experience, to explore my unknowns. A thought gradually forms: the meaning of life is to be shaped by us. Dominating our own lives and forming our own values while being moral, then achieving these goals is what makes our lives meaningful. Don’t pause, but keep running.
August 7, 2024 at 1:28 am
Herinic D
Competing with yourself is the best way to grow/improve. I believe the reason for a lot of our problems/bad habits stems from our own self conflict, which leads to decisions that we may not always approve of. Personally, I realized this after a bunch of self-reflection, a fair amount of the bad habits I was forming was due to me giving into laziness and distractions.
Recently, I would have these days where I wasn’t being productive in working on myself. Furthermore, it wouldn’t sit right with me because I felt like my focus was elsewhere. I would work out, but I always played a great deal of video games which was causing me to be lazy, together with wasting time. I knew what I had to do to succeed but those two things were interfering with my discipline. Once I started getting rid of these distractions, I noticed I had more motivation and more importantly, my discipline got stronger. These distractions also affected
the time I would put into making music. It’s a hobby of mine that I am very passionate about, but I wasn’t doing it as much as I wanted to, owing to the fact that I was just gaming. There’s always going to be that side of us that doesn’t want the best for us. However, we must overcome it to truly prosper. I recognize we all make mistakes but if we choose to willingly give in to them instead of fixing them, they become something worse.
August 13, 2024 at 10:17 pm
Good job on turning the off switch on those distractions. I could relate to this. I was so distracted by games that I let to much time pass by, which could have been used for more productive activities. When I finally cut those types of distractions out of my life I started putting in the work and started getting results. I might not know you but I’m glad you overcame that obstacle and started focusing on building discipline. After all discipline is the foundation of all success and without it how can we reach our goals.
August 7, 2024 at 8:44 pm
Ronin K
When I was younger I never really cared about religion and didn’t believe in much but recently in my life I have felt that God has been helping me keep going for a while now but never really noticed it and thorough out life I’ve been in some rough situations weather it was mentally, socially or physically. Anytime I feel like I’m at my lowest point and that it’s only going to get worse, there’s always something that gets me out of the situation and sometimes its the simplest things and for the longest time I thought I would just get lucky when I was in rough spots but now I’ve started to believe it was God’s plan
August 8, 2024 at 4:31 pm
Brian Graham
While growing up, I believe I can speak to the fact that most of us heard the saying, “Blood is thicker than water.” This was used as a tactic to convince impressionable minds that no matter what, family comes before all. As I grew up, I started to question this saying. How could a distant great-aunt be more valuable to me than a peer I grew up with? While this is a common saying, most are not aware of what it was derived from. The original idiom goes, “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” Riddling this situation with irony. Although most of the time, people hear it from their parents, for me that was not the case. My dad always likes to claim that our family motto is, “What’s one more?” which I hold close to my heart. It taught me at an early age, in simple terms, that family is not blood but the strong emotional bonds you form with others. My cousins who were adopted are just as much family as the ones who were born into our bloodline. Not to mention my mom’s best friend who she met in college, who we still refer to as our aunt. The people you surround yourself with, and who reciprocate the effort you put into those relationships are truly family. Putting yourself in this mindset can open the window to many more interpersonal relationships. In your current situation, what is something you could do to help someone feel more at home?
August 9, 2024 at 12:28 am
Daniela G.
In the past year, my understanding of Christianity has evolved significantly. Before, I believed that Christianity was just a religion in which you have to follow a set of rules to secure a spot in heaven. Growing up, my father would use fear-based tactics to make me follow the rules. Though he thought that was going to guide me closer to God it did the opposite. I started losing my faith.
Everything that happens in life is for a greater purpose. During some of my most challenging moments, I met this boy who has opened my eyes to so many things. His family has taught me so much and everything finally started to make sense. I have clarified why I felt certain ways and ways I could better myself. The answer was always in front of me but I was always too distracted by the world to see it.
The Bible has taught me the importance of love, grace, forgiveness, and more. The rules in the Bible are not just to be followed to secure a spot in heaven but also for your good. For example, forgiveness is important. Without forgiveness, it can cause many negative effects on one ‘s self. This can be resentment, bitterness, and lack of inner peace. That is why it is important to seek Jesus and get to know him. Christianity is not about wearing skirts, going to church service every Sunday, or being “perfect” but about cultivating a relationship with Jesus.
August 10, 2024 at 1:05 am
Very well written, you explain faith very well. I also love what you said in the last paragraph on how being faithful is not just for a spot in heaven. I always said that there isn’t a single value in the Bible that if you apply it to your own life, your life will be worse. God only wants what’s best for us and your story shows that.
August 9, 2024 at 2:30 pm
Ian Vieira
If there’s one thing that comes into mind when Spirituality comes into play, it’s determination. Ever since I was a kid I had always had dreams of becoming rich and famous and always have interests that I have wanted to explore and learn more about like with music, or cars, or whatever it was. Determination is a driving force that can’t be matched by anything once you feel that way and it’s what got me through most of my life. I only got through High school by pushing myself to do well with my grades and to have a better future.I was able to recover from my drug abuse through the determination to see my family smile again. I was able to save my money due to being determined to get a car. I had a strong sense of determination from finding my purpose early on in life and knowing what I should do with my life and it isn’t me thinking about who I want to be when I grow up or some shit like that. It felt natural of what I wanted to do in general no matter how I got to that point and it was to “Help people in need” (including myself). I was able and still able to do so many things with determination because every problem I encountered always had a purpose, no matter how big or small it is. If you have a strong sense of purpose, you can get through anything with your determination and any obstacles that come along your path.
August 9, 2024 at 11:46 pm
Nate M,
A belief that I have developed through my life is to be mindful. This has helped me form new relationships and see the beauty in the little things. Being mindful is being in the moment and having appreciation for your life and everything that had to happen for you to be where you are. A key moment in my life that developed this belief was during quarantine for covid. Not being able to hang out with friends or peers made me look for other things to do in order to pass the time. I turned to reading and exercising, spending more time outside finding things that interested me. I took more time to sit in the sun and spend time with my family. I was finally starting to appreciate the little things in life and was the happiest I ever felt. Being more mindful has many benefits allowing you to explore life through a new perspective and curiosity that can lead you to newfound interests and awareness. It is important for a community to be mindful so that everyone can learn from each other and get a new perspective on life. This allows everyone to explore life with kindness contributing to the community’s emotional and physical health. As we enter a new stage of life, we need to ask ourselves where we can be better and how can we contribute to a better future. Something as simple as living in the moment can be what the world needs and all of us have the power to change.
August 9, 2024 at 11:54 pm
Sherryssah L.
It came to my surprise that the saying “fight fire with fire” wasn’t quite literal but rather figurative. Even then the saying didn’t make sense to me. For the longest time I believed that if someone wronged me that they’d deserve the same treatment they gave me, the same energy because they knew “it was coming”. Doing that only took more out of me than it did out of them. It felt wrong, like a waste of time because who am I to put someone down when they’re at their lowest. Maybe it’s natural for me because I believe in a God that tells us to love one another and not to judge because neither of us are perfect. I came to this realization when a girl I had known had talked about me, judged me, laughed at me and had done the same to others including some of the people I loved. Everyone thought she was amazing, this wonderful person and I hated that. So, I did what people do, I returned the favor. It only made me realize that I was becoming the person I hated. I tried something new; I gave her my respect. I listened to her problems, I cared for her and supported her despite everything. Having this mindset had opened a new maturity in me, it allowed me to see past someone’s flaws and still love them for who they are. It gave me a sense of self love, allowing myself to put me and my values above others despite the thoughts and rules of society. So, it begs the question, do you follow who you are, or do you choose to conform to the world?
August 10, 2024 at 12:55 am
Todd S.
Growing up I’ve been taught to love Jesus with my whole heart, soul and mind. I was exposed to the Church at a very young age, and went to CCD, eventually being confirmed about four years ago. But, over these past four years, I’ve found myself growing apart from Jesus. Since being confirmed it has been very difficult to stay faithful and have been considering myself to be a “lukewarm” Christian. I wear the cross around my neck everyday, but yet I don’t represent Christ’s values. How can somebody consider themselves a person of faith, but sin without repenting? It is just purely hypocritical. So, with this in mind, I decided to make a change for the better. I started reading the Bible more, being mindful of the sins I commit, and making sure to repent for those sins. My life changed in ways only God could be responsible for. I found refuge in the things that normally stressed me out, and what would have made me upset, didn’t really affect me at all. Getting back into my faith made me realize how blessed I truly am. Thanks to this I can now sit right where I am and be happy knowing that my plan is in god’s hands. This makes me confident to say that anyone who is stressed, upset, or depressed, just know that God is here for you all the time. Some people in your life may say they would die for you, but he really did.
August 10, 2024 at 10:54 pm
Abigail D.
Currently, my past 13 years of education were filled with direct religious influence as a result of my “non-religious” parent’s decision to enroll me in a private Christian school. Entering into a religious school, I felt, had no discernible effect on me when it came to my belief in religion; however, looking back now, I understand why and how I came to carry certain beliefs that I do. Belief in God was a default in my childhood, up until middle school and the start of high school. Entering freshman year was when we were told to question and test our belief in God, but after years of being told that He was the only way, truth, and life, it was confusing. I felt angry and guilty at not only God but myself. I trusted and believed in God but found I never truly felt like a Christian. I never had that eye-opening experience that so many believers swear by; I was never baptized, and my parents never took me to church; my only link to God was school and my teachers. High school meant they went in depth with the Christian belief system, spiritually and legally. They would explain a common belief and back it up with faith and even science if necessary. But I kept finding myself angry and confused, as when summers came along, I would lose my faith in favor of the world and experiencing life.
Though now I do not have a strong faith in God and do not live by the standard set in my childhood, I am grateful for the opportunity to have been influenced by good Christians. I’m glad I was raised surrounded by people with diverse beliefs and worldviews.
August 10, 2024 at 11:56 pm
Zada W.
Personal reflection is key to not only understanding yourself but also understanding the world around you. Before I came to this realization, it was very easy for me to internalize every negative comment someone has made about me, whether their intention was to hurt me or not. My self esteem was very low and that soon began to impact the people around me. I became negative and hard to be around because of how I believed that those people were right. It wasn’t until I took the time to really sit down with myself and challenge those beliefs realized that those were not mine. Projection is a powerful thing, it presents itself as hate for another when its really someone hating themselves. When that projection attaches itself to you it then becomes hate for yourself. Once I changed my mindset and started telling myself that only I get to decide who I am and who I want to be is when my self esteem started to get better. I could finally look in the mirror and instead of picking out little flaws, I appreciated who I was.
This self reflection made me have not only sympathy for myself, but have sympathy for the ones who spread the same negativity for others. Despite a persons mistake, it is so important to have compassion for others whether they internalize it or not. Give someone the same sympathy, empathy, and patience that you wish others would have given you when you were going through a hard time. This doesn’t mean tolerate disrespect. It means respect yourself enough to avoid getting on the same level and leaving situations you know won’t serve you for the better.
August 11, 2024 at 3:56 am
Nhi N.
Trusting in friendships used to come easily to me. I love the comfort of knowing someone would always look out for me. But there was a period when a toxic relationship left me reeling and made me doubt everything I had ever held dear. How it started was harmless enough, we often had pleasant late-night conversations and shared laughter. I find comfort in her company and have a great deal of respect for her. We were inseparable, or so I thought. Slowly, things started to change, she began to hang out with a popular group of friends. Then, her words were getting harsh towards me, and criticisms disguised as jokes became frequent. I am aware of the strange attitude, I wanted to have a serious conversation with her, yet all my respect towards that friend held me back, I got too scared of losing her, afraid that I might say the wrong thing that could trigger another outburst. As time wore on, the toxicity grew more suffocating. I began to lose myself in the relationship, always trying to please them while sacrificing my well-being. It took a breaking point for me to confront the reality of the situation finally, I understand that not all friendships are based on support and respect for one another. I gradually started removing myself from the toxic environment, establishing boundaries, and realizing my value. In the end, my belief in friendship has evolved – not diminished. I still cherish companionship, but I now understand more about what makes a true friend. It’s about mutual respect and the freedom to be authentically yourself without fear of judgment.
August 11, 2024 at 9:09 pm
Alan C.
I lived in New York City for ten years before moving to Irvington for middle and high school. Since it was close to many grocery stores and other shops, necessities were easily available. After finishing sixth grade, I traveled to the Philippines during summer break.
As a developing third-world country, I expected a similar availability of products as the U.S. How would I know without thinking about the realistic differences? Contrary to my thoughts, this was not the case. Many appliances and lighting were outdated, not in terms of electricity output, but in production dates. The air-conditioners were losing paint and wouldn’t have regulators but instead a timer. Most people owned backyard gardens to supply food if a shortage came and because residential neighborhoods weren’t near supermarkets, planting was cheaper. During my summer vacation following high school, I visited Vietnam. While Saigon was more developed than Hanoi or Danang, it was still similar to the Philippines. Excluding the skyscrapers and hotels, civilian life was limited due to less availability of cars and food.
After visiting other countries and witnessing a third-world country lifestyle, it contrasted with mine. Where there is a high availability of products in the U.S., other less-developed countries may lack such easy access. Traveling around the world opened my eyes to the standard of living for others, many largely different from mine, simply because everyone has to do what they need to to get by in their environments.
August 12, 2024 at 7:05 pm
Kayla F.
For most of my life, I believed that strength meant independence and keeping others at a distance with emotional armor. Vulnerability seemed like a weakness, an invitation to judgment or exploitation. This belief was firmly held until some pivotal events during my junior year of high school shifted my perspective.
That year, the demands of harder coursework, a new job, and an active social life overwhelmed me. Struggling to balance everything, I sank deeper into a hole without seeking help, fearing judgment and wanting to maintain the facade of independence. My grades fell, and my emotional state deteriorated, but I kept my struggles hidden, not wanting to appear weak.
This period of intense difficulty forced me to confront vulnerability. For the first time, I had to ask for help instead of being the helper. I learned that being vulnerable doesn’t weaken you; in fact, it can make you stronger. Opening up about my struggles and accepting support improved my mental health and helped me manage my life more effectively.
This belief is important not only for me but for our UMassD community. Embracing vulnerability can foster a more supportive and empathetic environment. It encourages openness and trust, which are essential for personal and communal growth.
So, as we enter this new chapter, consider this: What could we achieve if we allowed ourselves to be truly seen and supported in our most authentic selves?
August 12, 2024 at 11:12 pm
Jade M.
For the longest time, I felt that challenges and hardships were the worst things to come into my existence. I avoided them at all costs. Hard homework was left ignored. Challenging puzzles were left unsolved. Difficult tasks were left uncompleted. To make myself feel better about avoiding these difficult tasks, I would tell myself that if it was hard, it probably wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that this was not the case.
As an incoming sophomore, I wanted my first year in a new town and at a new school to be a breeze. I felt that even though I was moving, I would still have my old friends and I wouldn’t have to worry about making new ones. On the first day of classes, I learned that I was very wrong. I was a stranger to my peers, and because of this, I was not spoken to. I had always been on the shyer side and rarely stepped out of my comfort zone. With my first day going terribly, I went home and cried to my mom. I didn’t understand why it was so much harder than I thought it would be. I begged her to let us move back so I could be back in my comfort zone. Instead of agreeing like I had hoped she would, my mom told me that even though this would be a challenge, I would get through it as long as I put in the effort. I didn’t fully believe this, but I decided to try, so the next day I went back to school and began talking to a few people. Though I was nervous at first, everyone began talking back and asking me questions about my old school.
From these brief interactions, I started to find a confidence in myself that I had lacked before. After a few weeks of small talk, I eventually found my best friends at my new school. Though moving started off as a challenge that I had never faced before, I was able to adapt to it. Because of the outcome, I began treating all the hardships in my life like this. Instead of avoiding the challenge, I embraced them. Now, I look forward to the challenges because I am certain they will bring positive outcomes. I learned more from challenges than I had from the easy thing that came in life. Though hardships can be unpredictable and nerve racking, they make us stronger and adaptable to the ever changing world we live in.
August 13, 2024 at 4:44 am
Nicholas Mellen
The lessons I learn from negative experiences have become more impactful in my life and made me question my value of the present moment, and the people around me. Not too long ago I made the big mistake of leaving my shop, alongside my friends and teachers who I respected very much to go and chase a high-paying job that I thought would lead me to success. I went to a trade school with my vocation being manufacturing technology. When I first joined the shop I knew that this might not be a good career for me as it’s not my style, but the teachers had my best interest in mind, and my classmates were like a family away from home. I knew that no matter what I would leave high school as a developed and good human no matter where I go. As a sophomore, I decided that I would spend the end of junior year, the summer, and all of my senior year in our school co-op program working in a factory. Going on co-op was doctored into my trade as it is a beneficial head start on a solid career, so when my teacher offered me that job I had no reason to say no. I knew it would be hard spending my final years away from my classmates, but I didn’t see the toll it would take on my overall happiness. I built up such a strong connection with my friends, and I threw away my final moments with them for a couple of extra dollars. The job was nothing like shop and if I could have I would have traded all the money I had made on co-op just to spend my senior year with my peers. I was not raised a quitter and felt this unbelievable pressure to finish out the year still employed in that job. So, that’s what I did. A lesson we all learned when we were younger is that mistakes are learning experiences, not an excuse to dwindle on the past. In this scenario, I struggled with that, and still do to this day. I wish that I had taken an opportunity to quit my job, but instead, I had quit on myself. Finding a positive takeaway from this ordeal was a long process that allowed me to discover myself. I established my values, and what I found at the top of my list was time and relationships. The bottom of my list was money and judgment. I now know that I would rather spend my time working at the zoo for minimum wage with my best friends, than working at a factory for very good money with people who do not respect my time or my character. I stopped caring for what other people viewed as a success and started going all in for what I thought success was. Now I live in the moment, work hard, and do it all while appreciating the present. Enjoy your moment because you’ll miss it if you’re looking backward.
August 13, 2024 at 4:57 pm
Cecilia D.
Everything happens for a reason. It’s interesting how our perspectives evolve over time. The idea that everything happens for a reason can definitely bring a sense of peace and understanding, especially when facing challenging situations. When we’re younger, it’s natural to see things in a more straightforward in a cause-and-effect manner. We think our actions directly lead to outcomes, and while that’s true to an extent, there’s also an intricate web of events and circumstances that shape our lives. It’s only as we gain more experiences and reflect on our journeys that we start to see the connections between seemingly unrelated events.This perspective can be incredibly empowering. It helps us move forward with a sense of purpose, even when things don’t go as planned. Instead of feeling defeated by setbacks, we can view them as part of a larger plan that’s leading us to where we’re meant to be. It’s like finding meaning in the chaos and trusting that there’s a bigger picture at play. Throughout life there are many times when things don’t go as they are supposed to. At the moment, it felt like a significant setback. But looking back, you might realize that those experiences led you to new opportunities or personal growth that you wouldn’t have encountered otherwise.
August 13, 2024 at 8:38 pm
Teresa M.
I believe in many things in science, faith, and more. I have been having experiences with God since I was a child. I have always loved oceans, pools, and being in the deep end, where I couldn’t touch the ground, and where the waves were as big as a tower. But my parents would never let me go by myself for obvious reasons. One day, my family and I were at the beach. I was building castles, running around, laughing, and eating ice cream, but I wanted to go into the water where the waves were huge. I begged my dad to come with me, and since I’m his little girl, he said he would accompany me.
He and I could never imagine that there was a huge rock that would make us trip and fall while a sequence of strong waves was coming. I remember my dad trying to push me towards the shallow end, and me being too scared and swimming back to him. Thankfully, the lifeguards helped us get out of the water. I was very young, but I will never forget that after we got home and showered, my dad laid on my tummy and started crying, thanking God, and apologizing to me. Faith is a very important matter to my family. Going to church on Sundays and praying before eating has been part of my routine since I was born. Throughout my life, l’ve heard stories about the big things God can do. Every time I look back on this specific story, I remember how big God really is.
August 13, 2024 at 9:42 pm
Jaylen L-M.
In my younger and vulnerable days, I believed that beating a video game was an accomplishing feeling. That rush of dopamine pumping throughout my being when facing an intense level left me satisfied. Even so, what did I accomplish? I sought temporary success while everyone around me excelled. I procrastinated in completing my promises, which worsened my progression. This realization led me into seeking the path of success.
During my Journey I found resources that aided my growth. I came across David Goggins, author of a book called “Never Finished”, a book meant to unshackle the mind and win the war within, to free the mind from procrastination and to crave difficult challenges to help grow as an individual. Goggins doesn’t sugar coat; He is direct when saying you can’t sit around and wait for opportunities of success to fall in your lap. I recall Goggins saying, “if you stay where you’ve always been, you will never learn if you have what it takes to venture in deep waters.” It made me think, do I have what it takes to reach my goals?
After that realization, I started to be more active. I pushed past my physical limitations with martial arts, refined my reading habits, leveling up while increasing my mental, emotional, and spiritual state with the purpose of building self- discipline, the foundation of success. I’m still a student in the art of self-improvement and continue to invest time studying this philosophy. Would you invest your time to this ideology?
August 13, 2024 at 11:10 pm
Joseph C
Throughout my life, I’ve been fascinated by religion. I’ve researched different religions and philosophies from all over the globe from Christianity to Buddhism and tried to get the most out of each of them, but one thing I thought was interesting was almost every one of them had one thing in common. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” was the first time I heard it and I guarantee many of you who have attended any CCD course have heard it too. When I first heard it I didn’t really pay much attention to it but I understood its premise, treat others well and they’ll treat you well back, but I was too young to have it resonate. As I started to read other scriptures from other religions and did vast research I kept finding the same premise pop up everywhere. This core principle was held in almost every religion and culture and I understand why. In this modern world filled with differing beliefs, ideologies, and political viewpoints you get pushed and pulled into different subgroups and tend to lose sight of this principle which causes us to attack the other side and vilify them. But at our roots, we are all people who seek the mutual goal of being happy and deserve to be treated with love and dignity no matter what or who we identify. Whether you’re religious or not by consciously incorporating this belief into your everyday life you might not change the world but you just might make someone’s day.
August 13, 2024 at 11:55 pm
Michael O
During my childhood, my parents took me to church every Sunday and always encouraged me to trust in God. It wasn’t until middle school that my personal belief in God truly began to take shape. During this time and into the beginning of high school, I found myself grappling with doubts. Around this time covid was happening and everything was falling apart.
However, as I became more engaged with church activities and focused on the positive aspects of my life, I began to recognize the good things and the blessings I had. This shift in perspective helped me rebuild my trust in God and reduced my doubts. Knowing that god is looking over me gives me comfort and reassurance that everythings going to be ok.
Even though I still experience moments of uncertainty, my faith continues to help me. When my trust wavers, I find strength and reassurance in the support of my parents and my church community, which helps me maintain my belief. I still have a lot to learn but i acknowledge that there are some things I’ll never fully understand, but what I do know is that my faith in God has been incredibly valuable to me.
Even though I still experience moments of uncertainty, my faith continues to sustain me. When my trust wavers, I find strength and reassurance in the support of my parents and my church community, which helps me maintain my belief. I still have a lot to learn and acknowledge that there are some things I’ll never fully understand, but what I do know is that my faith in God has been incredibly valuable to me.
August 14, 2024 at 5:03 am
Samuel S
Ever since I was 2 years old my mother brought me to church, I never really understood God or Christianity. I simply went to church because I was dragged along, soon enough I started to get more understanding of God and who he was, and with this came resentment towards him, all because of the same thought that goes through almost every Christian’s mind. “If God is good then why do bad things happen to good people.” From that point, I started to hate going to church and strayed far from God. Now this whole time I had a serious problem with identifying a father figure as my mom and dad split up, then my mom got remarried but I didn’t like the idea of another dad even though he might be a better one. Regardless, I always had a problem with this. Until very recently, when I had a complete change of heart, some might say it’s insane how fast it all happened.
I was at a church camp and suddenly I understood everything I had resented. Bad things happen to good people so they can reach a level of sensitivity towards God that I got to, it hurt but I got there. God answered my prayer at this camp for the first time in 17 years. It took a while but it was so worth it, I understood that no matter who my father is on this earth, God is my one and true father who will protect me from everything. You might not believe in God and honestly, when I strayed I didn’t either for a long time. At this camp, someone told me something that no one besides me would know, and then God started speaking through them in the first person. It was truly a phenomenal experience.
This was my belief that truly changed and the aftermath is even better. I instantly dropped sinful things. I didn’t even want to be near them, I felt a peace in my heart that I haven’t felt in a long time either, and now I just want to help others get to where I am today. I hope that I can make a difference in this world through God’s power.
August 14, 2024 at 4:29 pm
Morgan D
I was raised Catholic. I attended church weekly on Sundays with my parents, to which I had no desire to go, like most children. I knew the God I was worshiping, but was critically unaware of the significance. I knew the basic principles taught by Jesus: love one another, honor your father and mother, refrain from cursing, etc. I knew the rules and the expectations, and nothing further.
My faith was consistent for a while, and by that I mean going to church every other Sunday, and dismissing the commandments, as I failed to see their importance. It was until the eighth grade, when COVID-19 hit, where everything changed for me. Everyone in lockdown had no way to communicate with the outside world, well except for social media, and that is what initiated a radical flip in my religious beliefs.
TikTok took the world by storm, flooding phones with trends, news, and propaganda, but for me, it promoted Jesus’ love and forgiveness. While most are depressed and lonely, I found a new identity in Jesus Christ.
I began reading my Bible and praying frequently, about anything. I no longer felt the anxiety or depression that came with the pandemic, I found peace.
Now, why do I believe this is important, and why should the UmassD community care too? Well, the purpose I have found to continue moving forward, despite the occasional lack of motivation, is something I can only hope to plant in everyone around me. Everyone deserves to be loved, Everyone deserves to be forgiven. And everyone deserves peace.
So to the crowd that may be struggling or may not believe they have a purpose, know that there’s an end to your suffering and a way out, and His name is Jesus Christ.
August 14, 2024 at 6:55 pm
Growing up, I was far from religious. My parents raised me in a way where I did not have experience or knowledge about religion. The only connection I had to religion, more specifically Catholicism, was my grandmother. Because of her, I began to believe in faith, hope, and prayer which helped me during tough times. After she passed, I grew a deeper understanding for praying and used this method at my darkest times or when I missed her. Years had passed, and I had not prayed in a long time. I began to question praying, because sometimes it did feel wrong since I do not follow a religion. In 2023, I needed immediate heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. I was afraid for my life and how my body would react to the changes after the surgery. During this time, my family and I prayed more than I ever have before. On my second day after surgery, I was praying with my mother about being able to get my chest tube removed as soon as possible. We cried together and prayed to my grandmother for relief. Minutes later, the nurse came in and informed us that I could get my chest tube removed immediately. My physical relief was almost instant and getting that done felt like a true blessing. I felt like she was truly listening to me and sending love to me. This brought up a strong faith in my heart that I had not felt before and gave me a hopeful feeling that brought me closer to her religion. Now, I feel that praying is the best way to connect with my grandmother and I continue to use it not only when things are tough, but even when things are going well.
August 14, 2024 at 7:34 pm
All my life I have been a devoted Catholic. Growing up, I was taught to love God and trust that He will always be there for me. After the 2nd grade, my parents enrolled me in a Catholic school where I learned a lot about the stories of the Bible and most of the Catholic traditions. Learning about all this and going to mass every weekend left me with the belief that my relationship with God would always be strong. Little did I know that in middle school I would start to develop bad habits that would lead me to have thoughts about my religion as I started to question many things about it. Eventually, I was distancing myself from the faith and made no time for God. I no longer had interest in doing many things for my church and was ignoring God’s help whenever I was having a problem.
All of this changed when my sister was diagnosed with a brain tumor called Medulloblastoma. Never in my life did I think that any of my family members would have to go through something like this. I didn’t know how to react to this situation until I decided to leave it all in God’s hands. My family and I prayed every chance that we’d get and eventually God saved my sister. God answered my family and I’s prayers and He gave my sister the power and strength to overcome cancer.
After all this I regained faith and trust in God and ever since have found any chance to build back the relationship that I once had with Him. I would eventually enroll myself into a Catholic high school where I would meet amazing people that have helped me in my faithful journey of regaining my relationship with God. God has sent me many invitations to try and fulfill this journey in the form of retreats and religious gatherings. God gave me the strength to accept these invitations and has helped me realize that I can’t live without Him.
As I embark on this new path at UMD I hope God will accompany me and give me the strength to overcome any obstacle thrown at me. I hope that I can fulfill my duties as a Catholic as I make time for God and become a better person.
“Turn to the Lord before it’s too late.
Call out to him while he’s still ready to help you.
Let those who are evil stop doing evil things.
And let them quit thinking evil thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD.
The Lord will show them his tender love.
Let them turn to our God.
He is always ready to forgive.”
Isaiah 55: 6-7
August 14, 2024 at 8:32 pm
Jayden W
Church was always a big part of my childhood, My Grandmother and I would go to church every Sunday. It was the highlight of my week for me, I had church friends, I was in the children’s choir, and I had a great community. I fell in love with going to church and believing in God. As I got older I started to get busier with school, sports and social life so I naturally drifted away from going every Sunday. Although I wasn’t going all the time anymore I still stayed faithful and believed in him. I eventually stopped going all together, I would only really go if it were for a holiday. Even though I didn’t go as much as I had used to I enjoyed the holiday services. The services at my church are always amazing. Christmas and Easter are my favorites. I loved going but I just had so much going on because I was/becoming a teenager and was experiencing high school. Now, today I feel even closer with God, drifting away made me realize how crucial going to church is for my wellbeing. It brings me peace even during chaos that may be happening in my life. I’ve had a few very spiritual experiences that have made my faith for god stronger. I was put in situations where i’ve needed Gods help and every time it always works out. These experiences have ultimately led me to continue to grow my faith. They have also taught me to keep the relationships in my life strong and treat people with kindness. I’ve been able to invite my friends to come to church and be apart of the community and that makes me very happy to know that I can bring others around me to enjoy my church community as much as I do.
August 30, 2024 at 5:44 am
It’s great that church has been such a positive part of your life. It’s awesome how you’ve stayed connected with your faith and shared it with friends.
August 14, 2024 at 9:06 pm
When I was young I use to go to AWANAS Open Door Baptist church every Thursday night with all the kids from our neighborhood. We used to play games outside like kickball and other fun activities, have snacks and just be kids. There was always a story told, they all came from the Bible. Usually I didn’t pay too much attention because I just really liked the games and obviously the snacks…always the snacks. One night though, they taught us about Moses. This was the first time I heard the story, but I just remember listening. At the time I didn’t realize how much it would impact my beliefs and morals in every day life. Incase you haven’t heard, Moses was a prophet of a God. He was both ordinary and extraordinary; not being the perfect example of Man but also capable of the most amazing things. I know I’m not a prophet of God but much like Moses I have had to fall and pick myself back up again. Much like Moses, I doubted myself and the wonderful qualities I had. People like Moses and I sometimes think that great isn’t within us already. My junior year of high school for example, I didn’t think I would make it to college or let alone continue to play my favorite sport football. For a while I was in a dark space and I didn’t see the greatness I possessed. Nobody knows this, but I thought about the story of Moses. It’s why I was able to push through. My senior year of high school I was finally grounded in my beliefs and the goals I have set for myself. God has a plan for me, I might not be perfect and my journey is going to be tough always, but I’m here.
August 14, 2024 at 9:07 pm
SeanB
Making a difference has always been a cornerstone of my belief system, shaping how I approach both personal and communal challenges. From a young age, I was instilled with the idea that true fulfillment comes from contributing positively to the lives of others, whether through small acts of kindness or larger, organized efforts.
One experience during my life that shaped this belief was the death of my Grandfather. Losing my Grandfather was hard, and to make it harder, I found out my Grandfather had a Do Not Resuscitate order. This came as a surprise to me. My Grandfather was one of the toughest and bravest people in my life; he served in the Air Force during the Korean War and faced many difficulties throughout his life. Despite all of this, I never knew him to give up.
When I heard about this DNR order, all I could think about was how it was unfair and how my Grandfather had given up. While this angered me at the time, I later came to realize that him having this DNR was not him giving up but him accepting that he has lived a full and meaningful life. With this realization I gained some clarity about my Grandfather. My Grandfather was a man of service, from his time in the military to his time in Church; he gave back to those around him every opportunity he could, and it was this giving back and service to others that gave him the peace of mind to leave this life knowing he made a difference to those around him.
Through this experience and the lessons my Grandfather taught me, I learned about accepting one’s fate and making the best of the time we have. Whether it is through community or military service, duty above self is the most essential belief one can have, and it is the belief that my Grandfather lived by his entire life.
August 14, 2024 at 11:23 pm
Karma— what you give is what you get back. Karma is how I keep myself accountable and vigilant of my own actions. Hurt someone? The world will hurt you back. Some concept of karma even furthers how much you’ll be hurt in return— “she will get it 10 times worse”. As a Christian student, I do not believe in karma above my religious beliefs, but I know some have a stronger spiritual understanding than me.
I am familair with friends, television plots, and sometimes myself doing something wrong, like steal someone’s property, be unfaithful to a partner, or lie about about something, and then almost instantly or soon after receiving some equally ego-damaging or emotional damage be done back. I have also learn that sometimes we, (and me) do things that we know is wrong, but we never get caught. I have always been careful of my actions, to make sure I do not fall into consequences, naturally or spiritually, but we should not become used to doing the wrong thing just because we are not caught.
My parents are separated, and while I hate to examine this: my father may be the one to blame in the dissolution, however he seems to be living better than anyone. Some may argue that perhaps, he faces his secret battles, but it seems like my father may continue his whole life living happy as he should– he continues to be my amazing father.
Despite how easy or satisfying the poor choice may be, doing the right thing will make you feel good, but that examination is another lesson and post for another time…
August 14, 2024 at 11:30 pm
Alena M. –
When I was a kid my mom always talked about the color purple. Now you may be thinking “what’s so significant about a color?”. Well let me tell you, the color purple has shaped my belief system in an odd way. It all started when one day I was sitting with my mom in the kitchen and she was talking about people getting married. While she was talking about people getting married she was also talking about people getting divorced. I was probably around ten at the time, and she started talking about how she has this idea about the color purple. She told me that out of all the weddings she had been to, anytime the wedding colors had purple the couple got divorced. Which honestly stood true with the evidence she provided. Ever since then my questioning of the color purple began…
Now I kinda consider the color to be bad luck; it’s the only color that I won’t wear or have anything of. Whenever I’ve worn the color purple, or have something with the color on it, it always seemed to deem “bad luck” whether it be making a mistake or getting in trouble that day. I’ve always been a big believer in noticing the little things around you, and purple is just something that I’ve subconsciously deemed as something to stay away from. My belief system was questioned at age 10, and ever since then I always look a little deeper than the surface.
August 14, 2024 at 11:48 pm
What is Christianity without truly giving your life to Christ?
As kids, we’re brought up on the values of the people that raised us. The older we get, the more we experience life and can make out our own values. School and the friends you surround yourself around can also influence your values or the way you act. I grew up in a spiritual African household, which typically means we go to church every Sunday, choir practice on Saturdays, and youth service on Fridays.
As I got older, so did the temptations. The need to go to parties drove me farther away from God. I started to view Christianity as a “too strict” religion and stopped going to church altogether. I realized that I didn’t have my own relationship with God, just one to please my parents. But the more parties I went to, the more empty I felt. My friend invited me to her youth group services at her church. When I was there, the pastor was discussing building our own relationship with Christ. That feeling of “he’s talking about me” comes. At the end of the service, he asks if anyone would like to give their lives to Christ to stay behind. I stayed behind and prayed with the pastor. That was the start of my own relationship with God. I started to go to church more and learned the importance of reading your bible and prayer. I didn’t want to go to parties anymore and the empty feeling was gon
August 15, 2024 at 12:00 am
Ryleigh M
I believe in the power of faith. Faith is the little amount of light amidst the darkness. It is the little sliver of hope that allows us to persevere and conquer in tough times. My personal experience with faith came in a time of loss. When my grandmother passed away my family was heartbroken. Sadness, anger, and disbelief suddenly began to fill our lives. At the age of 9, I had to find comfort in the pain. Faith gave me a sense of solace and hope because it provided me with knowing that she was at peace and no longer suffering. The community around me provided us with food, advice and comfort. They had the faith that their actions would aid in our healing. Most importantly, this support comforted me in knowing that my Grandmother was at peace and with us in spirit. Faith is important because it fosters belief. Believing in yourself is the greatest motivation a person can have. Faith allows us to do remarkable things all because of believing. It allows courage to overcome challenges and the strength to get through life’s obstacles. Faith in the community comes in all forms whether being religious organizations, support groups, or charity all these things share one thing in common and that’s the power of faith. The belief that even in the worst, good will persevere because we believe. Faith unites us, gives us purpose, and allows support in times of need. When the human race believes in the good, incredible things are created.
August 15, 2024 at 12:04 am
From preschool to 8th grade I went to a catholic school. Starting catholic school from such a young age can be beneficial, as through your formative years the idea of God is instilled, making it a pillar in that person’s lives years later. However, for me the forcefulness of these beliefs made me almost turn away from God. When I left catholic school I didn’t think about the catholic religion for 2 years, atleast. It took me going through my own struggles in life, stress and anxiety, losing family members or large life events to grow into my own connection with religion. During my time at catholic school, the enforcement of having religion as your center was so obtrude onto us, I felt no connection to religion class or church, it was just assignments and things that needed to be done. My experience though ultimately impacted me greatly and I wouldn’t be who I am without that background. It allowed me to be curious enough to form my own understanding based on what I already knew, and a purpose behind believing in something.
August 15, 2024 at 12:27 am
Dimitris K.
I have always been Greek Orthodox Christian since I got baptized at ten months. For most of my life I had not been extremely passionate about my faith, and it was instead something I just accepted and went on with my day with. This stood true until the age of sixteen when I experienced a pivotal event that shifted my perspective on things. Towards the end of my junior year, a group of friends and I went to go buy flowers from the local flower shop for Prom. On the way back to school, we saw a yard sale sign and thought we would stop by. Once we got there, there was no sign of a yard sale but for some reason something told me to get out of the car to make sure there was nothing around. My friends then drove off as a joke, and soon after they passed an intersection down the street, where another car t-boned my friend’s car right where I was sitting in the car. I immediately concluded that it was divine intervention that saved me. Out of love and appreciation to God, I learned more about my Christian faith by reading the Bible, exploring secondary sources, and attending church more often. While learning more about my faith, I discovered how fundamental the Christian beliefs and values are not only to individual beings but also to society. I believe that principles that stem from Christianity such as forgiveness, humility, honesty, and kindness not only help myself be a better person but can also help those around me to be better people. Sometimes I wonder if that moment was just a coincidence, or the start of a purpose I’m only beginning to uncover.
August 15, 2024 at 2:04 am
Jazzy D
Faith shapes humanity. It’s something that keeps people intact and in control most of the time. Many don’t believe in religion, many do. In my opinion, I think society needs something to believe in to not spiral over their existence or go crazy. As each year goes by and you get older, you question your purpose in life or its general meaning. Why were you chosen to live this specific life? Questions like these make 99% of the population dive into religion, faith and belief. Because no matter what kind of religion you choose, it always has one thing in common. A sense of purpose. Now for the other 1% of the population religion is something that is purposely excluded from a person’s life. Maybe a person doesn’t feel the need to depend on a spiritual being to control their actions and emotions. But for those 1% of people who feel satisfied with themselves are always looked down upon. They are seen as lost. Meaningless or a waste of space. I am that 1% of people. I am someone who has lots of questions but doesn’t want an answer yet. With my own experiences in past religions I’ve held onto, I felt unhappy. I see a lot of hypocrisy from the same people who talk about love and equality. As an ex-christian i saw this alot in my church. People were loyal to God inside of the 4 walls we call a church. But were always talking negatively about each other on the outside. Those same people who claim to be loyal to god, were the same ones vulnerable enough to degrade a person just for having a different belief or vision for themselves. This is what leads people to stay out of a religion. Because although there are so many loving and amazing religious people, there are always people out there to ruin the name. To ruin its definition. As someone who is currently in the 1% of the population, I believe this needs to change. Religion brings together, but divides together. Religion guides together, but distincts together. Religion loves together, but intimidates together. Religion helps together, but harms together. So back to my first sentence, faith shapes humanity.
August 15, 2024 at 2:43 am
Guevensha C.
I never liked the word “belief.” I think it’s too volatile. You are not one hundred percent sure about certain things, and at 14, when everyone is questioning your very poor decisions, it feels like you need bigger words to convey your feelings, so I preferred saying “I know.” I knew who I wanted to be friends with, I knew what I wanted to eat, and I knew the history lesson for the week. I knew everything until I didn’t.
The start of 2023 marked the peak of violence in my country. Faces that I would see every day became plagued by grief and fear and slowly disappeared. Every day, I knew my dad would pick me up from school at 2:30 on the dot. Now I could only hope that he would make it, and I hoped that he was safe. I could only believe that he would make it unscratched. I could only believe that I would get to school unharmed and that my friends and teachers would also be able to make it. For three months, that’s all I did. Believe. And then the violence became an afterthought. I would hear about it from my friends, I would see it on the news, and I would smell the aftermath in the streets, but still, I believed I was immune. Maybe I was, but the people around me weren’t.
After that happened to me, I knew that I wasn’t strong enough to believe. That I could only know from now on.
August 15, 2024 at 2:44 am
Rosario A
I first talked to her in the 3rd grade. It was raining so recess was held indoors. I was a timid kid and loved indoor recess. Indoor recess meant I could draw and be bothered by no one, but a girl walked up to my desk that day. That whole recess we drew together. I made a new friend that recess, one that I would call my best friend for the next 8 years. In our Junior year, we had a massive fight resulting in the end of our friendship. The girl I once called my best friend was now my enemy. I hated her. In the halls I’d glare at her in disgust. I wondered how she could throw away our friendship over something so petty. Senior year rolled in, I realized that the fall of our friendship wasn’t entirely her fault, but we both were to blame. My insecurity and immaturity prevented me from communicating. I knew I had to make things right. As graduation approached, the thought dwelled more and more in my mind. I finally saw her at a friend’s graduation party. There was a moment of silence before we both apologized for our actions. It was clear that time allowed us to grow beyond our immaturity of Junior year. It was nice catching up with her. I left that party realizing I entered a new chapter of my life, one where I will continue to mature from experiences like these.
August 15, 2024 at 2:46 am
Fabrice B
Many believers have gathered on Sundays to worship God for centuries, convinced that on this day they are building a true connection with him. But what happens if we’ve been misled? What if the true day of worship has been overlooked, forgotten or even changed throughout history? Imagine the profound impact of discovering that the day we chose to honor God may not be the one that he has appointed. For centuries the seventh day Sabbath was a commemorative day of rest to honor God woven through the beginning of time Jesus and the apostles even kept the Sabbath in the New Testament times so why do people go to church on Sundays then?. Throughout history Roman emperor Constantine, played a very major role, in the observance of Sunday worship. In 321 AD, Constantine issued a civil decree declaring it the day of rest from labor. It was Roman Emperor Constantine Sunday Law that exerted the greatest influence on the change in worship. Before Constantine’s Edict Christian were heavily persecuted by the Roman empire during this time Mithraism the worship of the Sun god was prevalent, and Sunday was a sacred Day for Mithraism. Members of the Church of Rome did not fully understand the Sabbath and began to worship on Sunday to reduce persecution. They rationalized Sunday worship by referring to the fact that Jesus was resurrected on Sunday. In 313 AD through the Edict of Milan Constantine stopped the persecution of Christians and legalized Christianity and carried preferential policies toward Christianity. However Constantine did not have a pure belief in Christianity, but just pretended to believe in God. So he could politically unify the Roman Empire through Christianity. Constantine also identified Christian God with his favorite Sun god. That’s why he called it the venerable day of the sun when he issued his decree. Through his actions Sabbath worship disappeared completely, and Sunday worship was established. Sunday worship was not something that Jesus and the apostles had taught, but the outcome of the decree issued by the Roman emperor who used Christianity for political purposes and identified God with Sun god Mithra. Sunday keepers say they worship God but in all actuality they worship the Sun god. Even many Roman Catholic Church bishops that worship God on Sunday acknowledged the fact that Sunday worship is not in the bible. Finding this out made me realize that a lot of the laws we follow are man made teaching that are not even in the bible. Modern Christianity has been built on lies and it has become very corrupt throughout history.
August 15, 2024 at 3:00 am
Rose D.
When I was a child, my mother used to tell me to be nice to everyone and to treat them with respect. As far back as I can remember, I have always believed that being nice was about doing what everyone else asked you to do. Never say no when someone asks you to help them, even if you have your own project, things to sort out, or to do something for them even if it puts you in a bad position.
One of the things that changed my mind about the definition of kindness I had created in my mind was when one of my wise friends made me realize that many people take advantage of someone’s kindness or the fact that someone would not say no to them.And those same people also believed that being nice is a weakness. I always say yes when people reach out for my help, knowing that some of these individuals would not do the same, but if I said no to them, I would feel guilty about it. If it is ok to say no, why do I feel guilty about it. Some people always expected me to be available for them even if I have my own difficulty to take care of and be asking unfair demand. And sometimes, I do not think it should be like that.
I believe kindness is helping people when they are in need, and kindness is also an act of love. It is good to be kind, but does it mean to put someone else need before yours?
August 15, 2024 at 6:35 pm
I 100% agree, kindness can only go so far before it is taken advantage of, it hurts but it’s the sad truth of the world. The kindness you give out doesn’t always equal the kindness you’ll receive back. It’s okay to be mean or straightforward once in a while, it doesn’t take away from your character but rather, it builds it.
August 15, 2024 at 3:44 am
Arian D
Sonder is an idea that is brushed upon, but hasn’t really been focused on as one grows up so it becomes very diluted and very simplified. Sonder is the thought that everyday people you see and people all around the world are living a life just as complex as your own. Its something that everyone is aware of, but it seems to be something that a lot of people ignore. As our society becomes more selfish, and selfishness is promoted, it becomes easier to stop thinking about the person to your right or to your left. My Junior year of Highschool drilled this sense of social awareness into me.
The point of the year when this idea was reimagined to me was January. At this point of the year I was stressed because of the amount of challenges that were happening in my life. I was getting ready to perform in a show, my friend group was very shaky and hostile, I was going through a messy break up, and a lot of other minor stuff. The hardest hitting thing that happened though, was my uncle dying of cancer. He wasn’t the most prominent person in my life, but the impact of his death hit like a truck, you will never find a man who was as caring, and gentle as he was. A very charismatic man was taken away too early, and this kindness being removed from my life took a toll on me, and combined with this other stuff going on, I was at a point where I felt that nobody around me could understand what I was going through, so I shouldn’t bother to get them to try. It was a very negative mindset, and very immature thinking, but its very easy to have feelings like that in a situation that heavy. I ended up losing a couple of my friends, and it became harder to prepare for the show, as I was struggling to keep up the motivation and fire I had prior to the news of my uncle. I would’ve continued like such if I didn’t become closer to this girl I met through one of my friends. She continually decided to talk to me despite my avoidance of other people, and always seemed so happy. So you could understand my surprise when I finally explained my situation, only for her to be able to relate strongly. She also recently had someone very dear to them perish to cancer. She lost one of her closest friends a few weeks before. The difference was that she was able to keep her composure and her attitude positive. And this was very inspirational to me, because here I am thinking that nobody would understand what I’m going through, and then you have the happiest person I know able to relate.
After our deep conversation about topics of that nature, I started to improve my social skills, and attitude again. After realizing that my experiences do not separate me from anyone else, but only serves as something that can bring me closer, I started to have a more positive outlook on the things I do, and really started to realize the different kinds of lives everyone was living. It was really eye opening to really start having those deep level conversations with people who were close to me, and other people I barely knew. These conversations helped me develop a new perspective surrounding the way I go and interact with other people. The show was very successful, and performances after that were even better. The people I worked with became so much more than just other actors and performers. Each and every person I worked with became unique rather than just classmates. To this day I remember my conversation with that girl almost word for word. I will forever cherish that moment, as it served to improve me for the better.
Everyone around you is unique and special, try to go about college without seeing other people around you as classmates, but more so a unique and complex person just as you are. You don’t know how they lived their lives so try to be respectful towards that. Taking time to understand the people around you beyond surface level can help change your own way of thinking and growing, but you can also help guide them if they so need it. All of our lives are different and complex, using the knowledge we’ve learned from our experiences we can communicate and create something truly amazing. The next time you see someone waiting at a bus stop, or laughing obnoxiously loud with their friends, remember that their life is just as complex as yours, talk to them, learn from them, who knows if they can add to that complexity.
August 15, 2024 at 4:46 am
Julianna L.
I grew up going to church every Sunday. I read the bible and prayed frequently. As I got older, I felt myself begin to slip away from God. At the age of 10, I watched as EMTs busted through my front door and performed CPR on my Grandpa (whom I called Papa). I never managed my grief or allowed myself to cope, but I did place my blame on God. Why would he take away someone I loved? How am I supposed to live knowing someone who I shared a home with is dead? For eight years, I could never admit that he was dead. I had hoped this was all a terrible nightmare I would wake up from.
I continued to go to church every Sunday. I prayed to God, asking him why he’d take someone I loved. I prayed to God, wondering why he allowed me to watch as the EMTs failed to resuscitate my Papa. I felt each time that he never answered my prayers. But I have realized I was also never present with him to hear his answers. I pulled myself away from God because a part of me was angry at him.
When Covid hit, I never went to church as often. But during the midst of the pandemic and quarantine, I found myself in my bedroom, allowing myself to get close to God. I cast all my pain and anger onto God and felt a sense of relief in his presence. But that rebuilt connection was severed again in 2022. My grandma (whom I called Nana) had died in the hospital. It was sudden, and it destroyed me. I had gone to the hospital the night she died and saw his lifeless body. I cried and yelled at God. Why God?
So, I stopped going to church. It became one of the best decisions I’ve made. It’s allowed me time to heal and rebuild my relationship with God. I learned a lot of mindfulness during this time. I’ve faced many issues, such as anxiety. It caused a huge barrier in my relationship with God. I believed I was dramatic and didn’t need help. But the moment I cast my anxiety on God and got a therapist, I began to feel a sense of relief in my life. A relief I haven’t felt since I was a kid.
August 15, 2024 at 2:39 pm
Gabriella L.
When I was younger, I believed that not everything had a reason for it. You always hear, “That happened for a reason,” but it can be hard to believe when you are in a seemingly never-ending cycle of lousy instances. What good can come from bad experiences? For example, when the pandemic began and dragged on. The world was surely crumbling in front of our eyes, and I kept seeing people online saying we would come out of it stronger than we went in. That seemed incredibly naive to me; no good was going to come from witnessing an illness strip us of family members, quality time, freedom, etc. I spent my days brooding, trying any hobby I could think of in the house. I saw no light at the end of the tunnel. Positivity was a foreign concept to me. Slowly but surely, the months passed, and I was entering school in person again. After a month of returning to school, I began to realize I was different. I was a whole new person. I was surprisingly more confident, motivated, and comfortable with my peers. The pandemic had changed me for the better. It was one of the first times I realized something good can come of something bad. Days passed and the year went on. By the end of the school year, I was able to fully acknowledge that the pandemic had a good ending for me. It seemed ignorant to believe that something good could come from one of the most traumatic experiences of so many lives, including my own, but I couldn’t help it. I was a new me, and that new me believed there was always good in the bad in the end.
August 15, 2024 at 6:29 pm
Mackenzie T
Legacy. Something schools often mention to young students with impressionable minds in order to teach them about how their actions affect others. All I wanted to be remembered as was kind. As a result of this whether someone was my friend or not I wanted everyone to view me as a nice person. Yet as I went through high school I began to realize that keeping some type of “nice mask” was exhausting. Four years into high school was when I realized I had no need to put so much energy into being liked by others. What really instilled this in me was when I realized the less effort I put into the wrong people the more right opportunities I was receiving. I focused on myself, my sports, my academics. Being noticed for my effort and still my kindness towards others even if it was reciprocated. I made new, genuine friends who liked my personality and maintained this personality no matter what crowd I was in. Coaches and teachers would mention it to me personally and I grew to realize that being recognized publicly was nowhere near as good of a feeling as a one on one conversation. The past four years and maybe even possibly most of my life could’ve been better had I been given this advice earlier on. If teachers had told me to focus more on who I am rather than how others view me. Truly why does it matter how I’m seen if I’m happy with who I am.
August 15, 2024 at 6:34 pm
I resonate with this and I think it’s very courageous for you to speak out on it. More people need to learn this and repeat it to themselves everyday. If people don’t like you for you, how will that ever make you truly happy?
August 15, 2024 at 6:33 pm
Sofia AdV
My grandmother has been the firmest believer of Christianity and Jesus for as long as I can remember. My mother was the last of 5 kids and wanted to be the one to treat my grandmother well after the previous ones gave her a hard time or deserted her. That’s why, when I was born, my mother baptized me against her own beliefs. My mother knew inside of her that she was not strongly called to Christianity or to Jesus but she believed in my grandmother and loved her more than anyone. My grandmother goes to church every week, reads from her prayer book every night, and celebrates holidays like no other. She is the most pure, wonderful, and sweetest woman anyone could ever meet. Which is why I wonder so deeply, if she believed so strongly in Jesus, why didn’t Jesus believe in her? My grandmother was diagnosed with cancer when I was a preteen, and she fought it for years. At one point, it was stage 3 and my mother was a mess worrying about her. My mom left Jesus and has been a Jew since I was 6 but she never stopped supporting her mom’s love for Jesus. Even when it seemed Jesus gave up on her, my grandmother always believed. I found it hard to believe in a higher being but I adore my grandmother, so why does she have to battle so hard when all she does is devote herself to Him? I don’t know what I believe, I was converted to Judaism with my mother when I was 6 and have celebrated holidays and traditional Judaism, but I always find myself left unsure and unmotivated to believe in a higher power. I’m a woman of science, but I’m also a woman of my grandmother and I will always make that sacrifice for her if I need to. The question is, would Jesus?
August 15, 2024 at 8:03 pm
Vincent Z
I’ve been told since I was a child that opportunity is for those who are prepared. But I don’t know how to prepare, or what to prepare. At the time, I didn’t understand that if you don’t have a goal, how do you know if that opportunity has arrived. It wasn’t until the pandemic that I got a little bit of a new understanding. Because everyone was in lockdown at the time, all I could see was classes and video games. Because I didn’t communicate with others for a long time, I gradually lost touch with the world and became addicted to the Internet world. When the epidemic was over and we returned to school, I found that because of my inaction this year, I had to study EL classes for another year. I can’t At that time, I suddenly realized that opportunities are for those who are prepared, that is, you are prepared for this opportunity, but when you improve yourself, when the choice comes, you will have a greater chance of grabbing it. If you don’t know what you want to do, or you don’t have a goal. Don’t stop, keep improving yourself.
August 15, 2024 at 10:33 pm
Alison M
From a young age I was always told to never question anything to do with faith. Growing up people told me I just need to believe and everything will be fine. When hearing this at a young age I just agreed but life started to become more and more challenging and I started questioning what even is this thing called faith. I watched my mom and family go to church every Sunday and none of them seemed to question so why was I? When I was 16 is when I started asking questions about my faith and if there even was anything. Going to a Catholic high school not everyone there is religious so I got to see more more why I needed my faith but still never really knew what God really was. Was he just some guy in the sky. Like really what was he. After having all these questions I went to my Campus Ministry teacher and started asking questions and truly becoming part of the campus ministry community really helped me see and feel that it is just follow blindly but a real commitment and want to follow. Yes it may be hard to just follow something and not know but believe it will make itself known to you one way or another.
August 16, 2024 at 12:33 am
Kathleen H
Although my ideas are always changing and reforming, I hold the constant belief that in order to be truly happy in any sort of relationship, it is important to accept being alone. As humans, we constantly seek the approval of others and compare our lives to those around us instead of evaluating our own progress. When I was a sophomore, I desperately wanted my best friend’s approval. I often found myself wishing to be more like her: soft-spoken, good at sports, personable. In addition to my own self-doubts, she would speak negatively about my personality and interests, causing me to believe I was inferior. But because I had been friends with her my whole life, I was afraid of upsetting her and losing our relationship. I was also extremely self conscious and afraid of being alone. Eventually we did have a falling out that resulted in me losing a lot of our mutual friends. I felt extremely lonely in contrast to the many connections I had the year prior. I had no choice but to go to class by myself, sit alone during study periods, and occupy my free time with my own company. Although at first I was anxious about other people’s perception of me and felt sorry for myself, it ended up being the best thing that could have ever happened. I was able to discover a lot about myself and reflect on the entire situation that had happened with my best friend. I was also able to become comfortable doing simple tasks by myself without the constant need for other people’s approval. I believe it is extremely important for everyone to be comfortable in who they are as a person without the constant worrying and approval seeking. Once I was able to get out of my own head, I became extremely productive and focused my energy towards something important. This confidence and comfortability eventually helped me gain friendships and relationships that are healthy and meaningful where I can be myself and feel respected. If not for my experience with my old friend, I would probably still be that self conscious and overly anxious girl to this day. I might have still been in that unhealthy relationship if I had not found the peace I had within myself. In finding peace within ourselves, we can find peace in every other aspect of our lives.
August 16, 2024 at 12:45 am
Isairis V
Fear is a strong feeling. It controls the minds affecting how we choose to live our lives. The definition of fear is “an emotion or belief that something is dangerous or a threat to our person”. Fear robs many from the experiences life can offer. Fear tends to torment us when we want to try something new and step out of our comfort zone. Fear captivates our mind into believing that we are not safe and that we should stay where it feels we are. There are many examples in my life of people letting fear win. My cousin struggled in school a lot. So much so that he was held back in his junior year of high school. He was so embarrassed and in fear of what other people would think of him that he dropped out. The fear he felt caused him to miss the opportunity of graduating high school. Due to fear, he never got the chance to accept his high school diploma and walk the stage. Fear is a paralyzing feeling. When you feel it, you almost feel powerless with no choice but to bow to it. Many of us fear what people would think of us, what our parents will think, and what we think of ourselves when we look in the mirror. If we let it, fear will take complete control over our lives and prevent us from achieving the greatness we are meant to. The reality of the fact is, we do have a choice. We have a choice to defeat fear or give it victory. As we all take on this new chapter of our lives fear is going to be knocking at the door. It’s going to creep in and make us feel like we don’t belong and that we can’t go on. I believe every one of us can win against fear because the validation that we seek is found within ourselves, once we take the time and look.
August 16, 2024 at 2:14 am
Anyeli P
Spirituality and mindfulness shaped my life and what I believe in because when I needed answers for something I trusted in my belief, when I wanted something to happen in my life I had faith and trusted that everything would align.
My senior year of high school impacted me, it caused me to develop in my belief. My brother had gotten cancer, because of that I had to switch from in person to online to be there for my family more and cause less stress on my mother. In these times I had lost motivation for school and wasn’t on top of the things I should have been. After that happened I began to be concerned that I wouldn’t be able to go to college since I wasn’t in person. I missed a lot of dates for colleges and scholarships. My goal was to go to a university but because of this hardship I believed this goal wasn’t going to be accomplished since I wasn’t in school to talk about it with anyone for help and also being the first person to go to college I didn’t have the guidance I needed like most people did so I didn’t apply for college.
After graduation I was noticing everyone around me getting accepted into colleges all around and slowly every conversation I had with people my age was them getting into colleges or them moving away for college. I started to realize that I shouldn’t have given up so quickly on my goal. I decided one random night that I would start applying to colleges hoping that I would get in even though I knew it was too late. I kept an open mind and let my faith be in the hands of my future. I waited patiently and got accepted. I was so thrilled but soon after I started to lose motivation again because how would I pay for my school? I missed all the deadlines for financial aid, no matter the circumstances I felt like there was a setback. I decided to fill out my financial aid form anyways even though it told me it was past the deadline. Once again I had put all my trust in my faith; got a letter soon after and my prayers were answered and I got scholarships for school.
My belief is important to me and it should be to my community as well because it gives you hope; a light; a feeling that anything is possible. It can make you feel like you can overcome any situation/obstacle in your life and makes it possible for you to manage any emotional stress and anxiety. Motivates you to push yourself forward by taking action, also protects you from doubts.
August 16, 2024 at 2:54 am
Anne O
Growing up, God was always a solid foundation in my house, my grandmother, a pastor, would constantly pray over my cousins and me before we’d leave the house for school. That foundation from a young age gave me faith and confidence in something greater than myself. As a Christian in my walk with God, I believed that “Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life”. Jesus Christ’s life and teachings were, to me, the ultimate examples of divine goodness and truth. His path, though faced with persecution, demonstrated how God desires us to live-embodying love, compassion, and resilience. However, recently that belief developed after a recent sermon that I watched by Pastor Stephanie Ike Okafor, where she talked about the matters of God being within its creation. I learned that we are all vessels, created by God and we host God’s spirit within us, this is where our divine qualities and purpose derive from. In Genesis 1:27 KJV talks about us being made in God’s image, meaning reflecting God’s spiritual and moral qualities. Through this sermon, major key takeaways that helped me shift the way that I see myself and the purpose in my walk with God was by understanding my divine purpose and understanding what God wants from his creation and also understanding that we are a host of God and by accepting him and his truth God can be in oneness with his creation. Listening to this sermon allowed me to develop my belief and understanding of my walk with God, and reflect and realize that God was within Jesus Christ and his walk on earth which is why even in the face of adversity he overcame it and continued to spread the goodness of God. Pastor Okafor said, “There are many things we do, not because it’s our natural inclination but when the spirit of God comes in you, you begin to desire what he desires for you”. This brought me to the realization and understanding that once we acknowledge that God is within us and we embrace him in our lives, we can begin to fulfill our divine purpose. Our life is like an hourglass no one knows when the time will run out, don’t you want to know your divine purpose?
August 16, 2024 at 3:23 am
I do believe that everyone deserves a second chance.
While this is one of my stronger beliefs, I do believe all points can be argued depending on what kind of person you are and what your belief system contains.
During the time I have entered foster care, and became a member of my family to now, my dad has told me “blessed be the peacemakers.” While I think this can be interpreted many ways, my dad only intended it to be his typical “scolding”, either when I had decided to chase down my brothers when they consistently bothered me, or possibly 12 year old me throwing things at them instead of using my words. In a very ironic way, I have been told I am a very forgiving person and always have been. This may due to the realization I would be miserable if my mistakes were not forgiven or the mere fact I do not like to hang on to things for too long. I believe that forgiveness is something necessary for growth, and change but also a tool to better yourself.
During my years in foster care, one thing I never had was animosity towards my mother. At a young age, I was able to blame the disease of alcoholism and less the person it had taken from me. The act of forgiveness maintained the relationship I had with my mom until her very last breath.
Along with my friendships, they would never be what they are today without forgiveness. As my friends have made many mistakes, so have I. With forgiveness, comes accountability. Regardless of circumstances if you are not able to see perspective, you are bound to make the same mistakes and be stuck in a cycle of problems until there is a change.
While I could write much more about how forgiveness has bettered my life, I believe this is a shorter version of my truth. Forgiveness does not always have to be put out to others, but sometimes is necessary to display to yourself. Humans will make mistakes, as there is no one who is “perfect”. Being able to forgive, does not mean you forget…but means you can heal and move on.
August 16, 2024 at 3:48 am
Briona B
Everything happens for a reason 💌
A belief that I have developed throughout the last few years of high school is that everything happens for a reason. It’s somewhat conforming to believe that everything happens for a reason, but at times can also be heartbreaking to think that things happen even though it seems like there is no possible way to explain the reason for that situation. I realized how much I relate to this when me and one of my closest friends fell out during my junior year of high school. At the time, I thought this was the worst thing that could have ever happened to me. I loved and valued our friendship and to see that we were no longer friends really hurt. It was weird to think about going into my senior year of high school without my best friend. When me and my friend got into this argument and she broke my trust, I no longer wanted to be her friend. Which was a hard thing to do because I did truly love having a friend like her by my side. At times I would find myself asking “why would something like this happen to me?” Or “why would someone who I thought cared about me do something like that?” While I searched for a reason why this happened, I felt like there was no reason. I felt as if sometimes bad things happened for no reason at all. It was until the day I met who is my best friend right now. We met through mutual friends and instantly clicked. I never realized how much I needed a friend like her in my life. Becoming friends with this person was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Sometimes I ask myself if you can’t find a reason for your pain now, have some trust that better things are on the way for you even if it doesn’t feel like it. If it wasn’t for the argument between me and my friend, I would have never met my best friend I have now. I truly do think that everything happens for a reason, even if it doesn’t seem that way in the moment.
August 16, 2024 at 3:59 am
Jazziry R
I always believed in God for as long as I could remember, but there were points in my life where I was not serious about my faith, especially in an educational setting. I would avoid sharing my faith in fear of being shunned from other people, despite others sharing their beliefs without fear. I wanted to be more courageous but I didn’t know where to start. Recently, I went on a mission trip to Honduras. I went into the trip feeling like I wouldn’t be used, and that I shouldn’t have decided to go but as the trip started and the week went by, I gained experiences that not only left me humbled but gave me a new sense of courage. We did home visits on the first day of the trip so we started hiking up a hill the community was placed on. An alcoholic man was following us and started asking us questions. The majority of us tried to ignore the man since he was probably just drunk but throughout the day he still persisted and walked with us to all the houses we visited that day. When the last home visit was wrapping up, a pastor in our group wanted to pray over the man who walked all this way with us but the pastor couldn’t speak Spanish. I noticed and knew I couldn’t preach but I can speak Spanish. Despite my hesitation, the pastor really wanted to pray over the man so we teamed up and decided to try to plant a seed in his heart. We managed to reach him and pray for him leaving him overjoyed in tears. As we walked towards our bus, the man we had just prayed over walked back home filled with happiness after the experience everyone shared that day. This experience taught me not only to be bold when sharing the gospel and that I shouldn’t hide my faith because of fear, but that anyone can be used for their different talents.
August 16, 2024 at 7:19 pm
Amen
August 20, 2024 at 6:04 am
Yes Jazzy! You were the only reason we were able to do a lot of things on this trip God really used you In amazing ways I can’t wait to help bring God to UMass with you!
August 16, 2024 at 2:37 pm
Sam M
My thoughts don’t matter to anyone unless someone decides it means something to them. Although it may sound harsh, it is one of the many mantras that allow me to stay grounded and mindful throughout the day.
You can bring a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. Our beliefs and thoughts work the same way. We can’t make anyone listen, nor do they have the obligation to. I used to challenge the latter because, wouldn’t it be rude to only care selectively, especially if prejudice is involved? I wouldn’t disagree with answering yes but allow me to explain… if you’d like.
Humans are naturally curious, knowledge-driven beings. We’ve been in tribes and communities for as long as we’ve been around, and we love to share and gain perspective from others. But on the flip side of that coin, we also experience hardships in one form or another. When this happens it can cloud our ability to be the social, investigative creature we are, and we stop listening to others. Although friends and family (and even strangers) may want to help us through such moments, often, others piling their ideals on us doesn’t help.
With this in mind, at times instead of conveying why our opinions should matter to others, I believe we should focus on refining them for ourselves. And even if not for the self, then for those who are ready to listen; don’t you want your message to be as concise as possible? We should be questioning our beliefs to either strengthen them or find the flaws and create better ones. We should focus on why we have our views and how they can assist us in our lifelong journey. At the end of the day don’t we want to make sure we commit to something worth believing in?
August 16, 2024 at 7:18 pm
Josviel D.
As a little kid I grew up in a Christian household where we believe that Jesus is God that came to earth in human form. But when he died on the cross he arose on the third day . As a little kid I just thought these were stories that my grandmother would just tell me I didn’t really know anything about it but 3 years ago I started going to church because there was a situation going on in my house so I started going to church and then I keep going and I started to get into it . And now three years later I’m in the faith that my God Jesus Christ will come back and this time he’ll bring us with him . And the reason i believe this is one day i was in church and a special preach came to preach the word of God . And i was praying for a while for God to speak to me but then a lot of an events were happening in my life that i started to stop believing . And then that day that the preacher came everything changed i went up to the front to get prayed for i went up and then God just started speaking to me and everything he said was everything going on in my life and the only one that knew it was me. And i just started bursting tears and from that day i knew i need to change because God told me that he had big plans with me. But the reason I told you this because if God could get me outta the streets and get me out of who I used to hang out with and all the bad things that I used to do he can do it for you too he can change your whole life around no matter who you are I’m proud to call my self a Pentecostal and no matter what I will always follow him because he took me and saved me he has saved me from death he has saved me from sickness he has save me from my own mind. And if you want him to do the same for you all you have to do is believe and accept him as your one and only God all you have to do is find a church and find your self with God. He can do it all he can save you from your self he can save you from depression, suicide, anxiety he can save you because he is the God of gods he is the Lord of lords he is the King of Kings and nothing is impossible for him he does it all. He provides when you need providing he puts food on your table when you need it he give you what you desire all you have to do is believe and ask for it. Your going to go through trails and triumphs but as long as you keep your faith strong as long as you believe he can do it he will do it. But the question that I got for you today is if he can do it for me why can’t he also do it for you ?
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the lord are everywhere keeping watch on the wicked and the Good.
Choose your side are you the wicked or the Good?
August 20, 2024 at 5:58 am
Kyleigh R
Have you ever met someone and thought, “How is that person still alive? They make a lot of bad decisions.” Well until about a year ago I was that person. I had anxiety and depression, as do a lot of people my age now, and I did not care what happened to me. Well, that changed and it was not by my own doing. I finally decided to build a relationship with God. This has changed not only my life for the better but also for everyone who knows me. Having a relationship with God has given me an alternative perspective on all my relationships with the people in my life. I now have so much love for everyone I meet. I volunteer regularly and even went on a mission trip to Honduras. There is not a single part of my life that has not become better since Christ entered it. But I believe that everyone could have a better life if you build a relationship with God. I have had many people ask me “What if after everything in the end you find out God isn’t real?” I would respond; If we get to the end and God is not real, I will tell you I do not have a single regret. By letting God into my life, I have not lost a thing, and yet gained everything. But if in the end he is real and you did not have a relationship with him in this life, you have gained nothing and lost everything. So that is the best change I have ever made in my life, how it has affected others, and why you should consider letting God into your heart.
August 30, 2024 at 5:19 am
Nana O-B
Despite being born here in the U.S (Worcester, Massachusetts), I consider Ghana to be my first home. I was sent there at the age of one and would live there for 8 years with my grandma and my aunt. It was a wonderful period in my life. One that has shaped and impacted who I am today. Living in Ghana, I grew up in a Christian household. We strongly believed in God and I read my bible every day and would pray daily, once in the morning, and once before bed. These weren’t chores for me. I strongly believed in the Lord and I adored my religion. Fast forward to 2016, I would finally return with my grandma at the age of 9 going on 10 to live with my parents. This is where “trouble” would strike. I don’t like to put blame on anyone or anything because I believe everywhere you go has it’s issues. But my faith and my religion would begin to dwindle once I came back home. My parents weren’t at home to supervise and guide me (I don’t blame them) as they often had to work a lot to put food on the table and my grandma wasn’t the strongest person. I would begin to neglect my religion and my God over the course of many years. Many bad habits and different things would pull me away from God. I began suffering with some serious anxiety problems back in middle school going into high school and all that time it felt like I was alone. Like there was no one to lean on. I would cry myself to sleep every night, worried about my future and thinking on issues like “If I don’t get all A’s I won’t get a scholarship to college.” If I don’t get a scholarship to college my parents would go into debt from paying all my college bills” They would be disappointed in me and on and on, my mind would swirl with these thoughts. It was very hard to control them and it wasn’t until COVID struck, despite what a sad period it was, it slowed everything down for me. The lockdown allowed me to take a break from a lot of things. My academic life (for some time), my social life, even my my physical life were all bettered by the fact that with nothing to do and nowhere to go, I would sit down with my parents and listen to our church’s service which was now being live streamed on YouTube due to the lockdown. And I listened, like really listened for the first time in a long time and it was God speaking to me through the pastor. He spoke to my very being and the very issues I was dealing with in that time. I dashed to my room and would break down crying. For the first time, I was seen. I was understood and I did not have to utter a single word. The Lord came looking for me and dragged me out of the dark hole I was residing in. I was a sheep who had gone astray, and like the Bible said in Matthew 18: 12-14; “….If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.” It is not an easy thing to live righteously each day but like he has done before, he is always there to pull me up when I fall and thanks to him I have never returned to that dark and isolating place of anxiety and worry.
September 1, 2024 at 5:30 pm
Donovan B
Something that I heavily believed in over the last couple years of my life and of high school is that everything happens for a reason. I used to always stress over little things and be worried when something didn’t go my way. As I got older, I started to not be worried and just go with the flow of things, and it really changed my life for the better. The event that gave me this thought was a couple of my friends were leaving my high school and transferring to other schools. It was upsetting to see some of my friends leaving, but I knew that there was a reason, and this could be a blessing in disguise for me. Them leaving allowed me to meet new friends and become way closer to kids that I wasn’t that close to. I believe that everyone should think this way and always try to see the positives over the negatives in all situations. People at UMass Dartmouth can use this belief because maybe they have to take a class they don’t want to or are in a new class they don’t know anyone in. If they give it their all they could end up loving the new class and end up changing their major to mold around this new class. They could also meet someone new in these classes that could end up becoming their best friend for life. I’m going to go through this year of school with this mindset and we’ll see how it works out for me.