I was raised Christian, meaning I grew up with weekly Sunday services, mission trips, vacation bible study (VBS) camps, Friday family worship groups, and of course, daily prayers and graces. It's all I've ever really known.

But when I went off to boarding school in the eighth grade, with the freedom to live as I pleased, I found myself drifting little by little from the life I was so familiar with. Sure, fundamentally I was the same person, but I didn't feel the same. The change was drastic, and yet I myself didn't even notice it at the time. By the time college rolled around, I had confidently adopted the mindset that while I would always identify with my faith, it would not define me.

A couple months in, the stress of school, homesickness, and all too many changes at once started getting to me; I was overwhelmed. I had been away from home since I was 14, so these feelings were foreign to me. I tried pushing through it, but I got to a point where I decided to confide in my mom about how much I was struggling. She simply told me this, "Pray about it."

I did. I kept praying, and eventually, I went out and got connected with a church in the city. And for the first time in a while, as I stood in that 5 pm service, I didn't feel so alone. Call me dramatic, but it changed my life, really. I felt like a piece of me that was lost was finally coming back, and I couldn't be happier about it. But while my newfound passion was a call for celebration for me, to some of the people in my life it was a loss to grieve.

Going to a school like NYU, I definitely feel there is a bit of bias towards Christians. We are known as a school that celebrates diversity and embracing what makes you who you are. And yet, sometimes when I share that I am Christian, I can tell the other person is biting their tongue to hold back what they're really thinking. Even my non-Christian friends make innocent jokes around me about "those d*mn Christians" and while I know it's all in good fun, I know sometimes they aren't totally kidding.

Christians get a bad rep because we are often perceived as homophobic, high-nosed evangelists who are ignorant about the world around us. This saddens me as someone who not only comes from a long lineage of Christians but as someone who comes from a city filled with Christians who are some of the most welcoming, genuine people you'll ever meet. And sure, I could just choose to only surround myself with people who share my beliefs, but what kind of life would that be?

Christianity is founded upon the principle that God loves all his people equally. While some Christians may choose to advocate otherwise, I hold firm in this belief, as the majority of us do. It's just the unfortunate reality that those with hateful, diminishing views are the ones who get all the publicity in the media. But why do we have to let the outliers define the religion as a whole?

The truth is that we live in a world that is filled with suffering and heartache. It's a world that I don't think I could endure if I didn't have my faith. It's what keeps me grounded, the only thing I am one hundred percent certain about. And that is a fact that I am not ashamed of. I am not ashamed to say that I never miss Sunday service or that I pray every night for the people I love or that I dedicate time in the week to bible study. It's who I am, and none of these things make me any less loving or accepting of a person. I stand proudly by my religion.

One of my favorite lines from Christian singer Chris Tomlin's song "The Gospel" puts it perfectly, "To the skeptic, it might sound crazy to believe in a God who loves/in a world where our hearts are breaking." In other words, you don't have to understand me or any other Christian for that matter. All I ask is that you don't make unwarranted assumptions about my character or my view of the world just because I am a Christian. Rather than jump to conclusions or pass on judgments, perhaps try starting a conversation. I would be more than happy to share.