Since generations ago religion has been the backbone of how the people in my family were raised. It was something everyone held onto and did not let go and the lessons we were all taught intertwined with the Bible in one way or another. I never knew how it was possible my mom could relate everything to God, but she managed to do so. I can't lie and say it did not annoy me every time she did, and how we could not hold a conversation without involving religion. It got to a point where I started to question if I wanted to carry this tradition of having faith.
I forget the day, but I know it was the twenty-something of April of the year 2017 when I visited Seton Hall University. I was completely in love with the university. I felt an immediate click when I entered the campus and knew Seton Hall would be at the top of my list. Of course, what my parents loved the most was that it is a Catholic school, and the church was beautiful and somewhere I can spend lots of time. I had brushed their comments aside and did not want to deal with the whole religion conversation again, in regard to whether I am taking Catholicism seriously or not.
A few months pass by and it is summer, and I can't lie I'm feeling lonely. I have friends to talk to and my family to fall back on, but I still feel something empty inside me. I kept pushing the feeling aside telling myself it's just boredom. I was scrolling on Twitter and I saw a friend of mine posted some pictures with a pastor. He was never the "religious" type, in fact, if anyone knew him they would never imagine him near a church. I decided to look through his profile and see he has more posts regarding God and Jesus. Seeing these posts and how well connected he looked with God made me smile and I had the urge for the same feeling, but I did not act upon it.
February 18th of 2018 comes and I visit Seton Hall once more to help me decide if I am ready to commit there. Once again my mom wanted to visit the chapel on campus and this time I did too. I walked in and I felt a reassurance upon me that I do want to go to Seton Hall and I thought about that maybe I should give it more of a chance to connect myself more to God. Since then I have started to pray more and focus myself more on Catholicism, and finding faith in Him every day.
I have also noticed that through that shift I have found more tranquility within myself and have felt more motivated to tackle down any obstacles because I feel that sense of faith within me. I also believe that choosing to go to Seton Hall now has given me the advantage to get closer to my faith while balancing classes. Funny enough one of my core classes is called "Journey of Transformation" and I feel like its no coincidence that I have and am going through a journey of transformation with religion.