One thing I've heard many of my friends from back home say after their freshman year of college is "I wish that I had practiced my faith more in college." This is a commonality that many religious college students have. In college, there are a lot more obstacles and distraction.

One of these obstacles is that during the first few weeks of class you are desperate to fit in. If your new friends aren't religious you may feel pressured to act this way as well. This means that you skip mass or don't join different campus ministry opportunities because your new friends aren't either.

Another obstacle is the party scene. While there are many mass times on Sundays, going out all weekend means that Sundays are spent doing all the homework you didn't do early that weekend. Additionally, it means sleeping in late to sleep off last nights activities. This can take a toll on many people's faith lives when they just stop their normal practices.

The last obstacle is that college students are super busy. Between classes, hanging out with your friends, jobs and other extracurriculars sometimes it seems hard to find time for your faith. All these other factors pile up until something has to give and for a lot of people the thing that gives is their faith life.

Despite these obstacles, I know that it is possible to continue to have a faith life in college and even grow it. There are ways of getting over whatever obstacles are in your way.

First, if your friends judge you for whatever your religion or faith practices may be then they aren't your friends. True friends won't care that you may be Muslim and they are Christian or that you are Catholic and they are atheist. If your friends judge you and make fun of you for wanting to practice your faith then they aren't true friends. While it might not seem like stepping away from your new friends is a good thing, in the long run, it is the most beneficial thing that you can do.

Second, the college party scene doesn't have to be an obstacle. I know plenty of people who have amazing faith lives who still party. One of the things they have told me is that they make faith a priority in their lives. This means that they don't let partying overtake their lives. They actively choose to get out of bed before noon so that they can go to mass. And they choose to go on retreats and miss out on parties some weekends. For them, partying isn't all encompassing, which is why they are able to keep their faith life strong in college.

Make faith a priority. As I talked about earlier, in college you have to set your priorities, so you know what is most important to you. If you do this then it will be easy to see which activities you should join and which you might be too busy for. For me this means joining different faith based organizations and going on retreats. While this takes time out of my days, I enjoy doing it instead of other clubs.

Another great way to grow in your faith is to surround yourself with friends who practice their faiths. You can find these people when you go to mass, when you join clubs or even in your hallway. These friends can inspire you and challenge you, but most of all they will support you.

Additionally, you can practice your faith daily in between everything else that is going on. You can pray in between classes, while you're doing your laundry, before you go to bed or even in the shower. Prayer builds your faith and it doesn't have to be long and structured. You can listen to music from your faith tradition while doing homework. You can read part of your sacred text every day. All of these things may seem little, but they add up.

Keeping your faith in college is hard. Practicing it is even harder. But it's not impossible. It's important to know yourself and your priorities. Once you do, practicing your faith in college isn't a challenge but a way of life.