They say faith is like a rock, a hard place that someone can lean on, never moving, always constant. I don’t know about you, but this rock analogy never seemed to sit well with me. Sure, I understand the reference. A rock is tough. It survives everything. Even with a few cracks, a rock resonates strength and security. Yet when I think of a rock, I think of the phrase “stuck between a rock and a hard place”. Though I never quite understood before, moving out of my “closed-in bubble” has finally made it all click. My faith has always been my rock, it just took a hard place for me to finally realize it.

Believing in God has always been intrinsic, it’s simply a part of who I am. My faith is a part of my identity and I could never be more grateful for that than where I am today. Going to Catholic schooling at the beginning of my life was the greatest blessing I could have been given (and no this is not an article to convert everyone to Catholicism, trust me that is not my goal). This is an article to instill a belief in something, anything because having faith has been my constant in life, it is my home away from home. Attending a religious-affiliated school helped me to create this constant. Some may be afraid to say they believe in God, this may be their “dirty little secret” but for me, I am proud to say I am a college student rooted in faith.

They say college is when you finally find yourself. You rebel against your parents, stop following their rules like “going to church every Sunday”, and finally start doing your own thing. This is your time to be you. College is this hard place. It is a time of trying to find balance between who I used to be and who I want to be, between my school-life and social-life, and between a life of faith that was presented to me and a life of faith that I am choosing. Sure, there was a part of me that felt the difference between attending a private school and a public school. Is campus ministry cool or is that something that you keep to yourself? Would my faith still be this “rock” that everyone talked about or what? Like I said, hard place.

All these questions circulated in my mind until I found myself encountering more and more people who shared my beliefs and those who didn’t, but it was not the people “just like me” that comforted me. It was the variety of different beliefs I saw around me. No one was ashamed of the rock that supported them, no matter the differences. College may become your home, but the four years come and go. Some may see college as the “hard place” that tests your faith and future forever but there is not one obstacle in anyone’s life, but many. This is why I am proud to say that my faith is and will always remain my rock against the storm. Because as was instilled in me since I was a little girl, God is always there for you no matter what and I am fortunate enough to have a faith strong enough to withstand it all.