Speaks Out

Friday, October 30, 1998

Speaks Out

What role does religion and spirituality play in your life?

"When I was younger, I used to go to church more often, but now that I'm in college, I've let spirituality fall by the wayside. It's probably not a good thing, though. I'm a Christian. I believe in what I was taught as a child, but my attendance has gone down to a couple times a year. Maybe cynicism has set in, but I think it's just laziness more than anything."

Yuri Balian

Second-year

English

"Religion is really important to me, especially on campus. Because the atmosphere here is pretty impersonal, I need a 'family' to turn to. The church acts as that family. Spiritually, I believe God is watching over me and that there is a reason behind everything in my life. While I'm not God's puppet, I still feel things happen for a reason."

Anna-Lia Quinio

Second-year

Molecular, cell and developmental

biology

"Religion and spirituality play a very large role in my life through everyday interactions with people, not through the dogma of the Catholic Church. Though I'm a practicing Catholic, I recognize there are many people who go to church, but who are the most mean, inconsiderate people around. Others have never set foot in a church but are the most outstanding representations of what it means to be fully human. So, it's not church that really counts but how you deal with people."

August Hoffman

Teaching assistant

Education

"Spiritual-ity plays a significant role in my life, but I don't identify with any organized religion. I pray every night and I do believe in God. However, church is not that significant to me because a lot of people attend church, but they don't really believe in God and live righteously."

Kasey Todd

Second-year

Political science

"I don't strictly follow a religious base, but spirituality plays a large part in my life. Take (my) diet, for example. While I'm a vegetarian for health and social reasons, it's also very much for spiritual reasons. But it's not really for religious reasons. My family is ethnic Hindu and religiously Sant Sangi, but I don't carefully practice it."

Ranjun Chauhan

Fourth-year

Sociology

"My faith helps me keep hope. When things are down, I'll pray to give me peace of mind. But, I'm kind of agnostic. I pray to God, a higher being, but rationally, I don't believe that it's true. I don't know. I kind of create my own religion."

Grace Lin

Second-year

Electrical engineering

Comments, feedback, problems?