As a student at Fordham University, a proudly Jesuit institution, Catholic tradition is a small and omnipresent part of my everyday life.
Simultaneously, however, as someone who was not raised Catholic, being just a little bit lost with that Catholic tradition is an equally common part of my day.
On Fordham's move-in day this summer, I attended mass for the first time in nearly half a decade. And you know, I was trying my best, but listen . . . I am bad at mass. I just don't know when to stand up, when to sit down, when to cross myself, etc. It was a beautiful service, I was just a little bit clueless.
About half of Fordham students are Catholic, which means that I've had the opportunity to talk to a lot of people about the differences in different denominations. For instance: I didn't know that every Catholic church had the same readings every Sunday until a couple months ago! The more you know!
Today was Ash Wednesday! And I'm too embarrassed to admit how long it took for me to realize why people had crosses on their foreheads.
So yes, I'm still learning about Catholic traditions, but here's the thing; it's also very interesting to see how varied the Christian experience can be. I was raised in church, and still had no idea about a lot of this stuff. And for a lot of my Catholic friends, my church experience was just as radically different for them.
I've already found my time in a Jesuit institution extremely informative - I've grown as not only a student but as a person. Jesuit education champions the idea of the "care of the whole person," of growing as a human being rather than just being able to recite facts. Jesuit education has expanded my view of what it means to get a college education; that if I go through four years at a university and the only thing I get out of is a degree, then I've wasted opportunities.
In short; I love Fordham. I appreciate my Jesuit education.
I'm still a little bit lost with everything else.