I want to start this by saying that I am in no way perfect. Yes, I go to church and I try to live a life that honors God, but I have messed up. Many, many times. But that’s the whole thing about being a Christian…our lack of perfection is made up for by Jesus, who calls us in all of our brokenness to come to him and be saved.

Faith has been and continues to be an important part of my life which I have worked to maintain while I have been in college thus far. Through my involvement in on-campus religious organizations and other means of religious activity, I have tried to find a faith-based community to grow with.

I have gone on a mission trip to Peru, spent time volunteering in my community, gone to bible studies, and have worked to develop my relationship with God and grow as his servant. All of these experiences have been awesome and have had an important impact on my relationship with Christ, however, the community is not the sole reason I choose to live my faith.

I’m choosing to live a life of faith while in college because I know I can’t do this alone. I have been through too many things in my life that have been hard, and have given me nothing else to turn towards except God. I have had too many blessings in my life that it would be unthinkable for me to ignore them and not realize there has to be something (or someone) greater looking out for me.

There has to be a reason why I am on this earth that is war-torn and broken. There has to be some kind of plan for my life, and some way that I am going to make an impact on those who have not been blessed like I have. There has to be something more.

I know that there are thousands of ideas and people trying to explain some of the aforementioned thoughts I have voiced. I understand that there are many religions and scientific thoughts as to what life means and how it has originated. I get that everyone has different opinions, and that’s completely okay. But for me, sitting in front of the cross, and humbling myself before my God is the only thing that I can turn to in this world and feel comforted by when it is all said and done.

To me, faith is everything.

I’m not the model Christian. I have screwed up so many times I can’t even begin to count, and I still screw up all the time. I get that I need to be better, and that’s something I work on every day. But while I represent my religion, the true model of Christianity is Jesus. He was the only perfect one… Christians strive to live like him and emulate his goodness.

So yes, I am a Christian, at a liberal school. I mess up. I am not perfect in any way. At all. But I’ve experienced God’s love, and it’s too good for me to let go of.