I was born Catholic and all my life I went to Catholic schools. I guess growing up, my school helped me develop my belief in God. We had to take religion classes, and even though I complained about taking those classes every single year, I still somewhat enjoyed them because I learned more and more about my religion. My school had a church right next to it so kindergarten through 8th grade, we had to go to church every Friday. If we weren't forced to go then I wouldn't be going to church at all because my family stopped going to church on Sundays even though we still believe, or some of us still believe. Everybody just got really busy with their lives that we stopped.
I went to a Catholic all-girls high school called OLP, also known as the Academy of Our Lady of Peace. Our campus was not that big. We didn't have a football field or a soccer field. We didn't have tennis courts, which sucked for me because I was on the tennis team and we had to drive to Balboa Park for tennis practice! We also didn't have a church. We used our gymnasium for Mass. Once a month we had Mass on Wednesdays. So I would attend Mass once a month and that's it. I never really went to church on Sundays with my family during high school either. Again, everybody was busy. We also had to take religion classes, which were tiring for me after taking religion classes after 9 years of being in a Catholic elementary and middle school. Nevertheless, I took them and I developed my relationship with God.
I applied to college and got into SDSU. I was excited to go to a public university because that meant I could actually wear normal clothes to school. After wearing a uniform for 13 years, I was definitely tired of it. Also, I did not want to go to USD, the Catholic university in San Diego, because that meant more religion classes and I was tired! Jokes on me because I took an online religion class my freshmen year of college. SDSU has definitely put a lot of things on my plate, from lots of homework to my sorority. My freshmen year I had a boyfriend and after several months it just didn't work out. I was heartbroken and was looking for someone to talk to. I turned to God. I started going to church and that honestly helped me. I learned to value myself more. I learned to put myself first. Going to church to me shouldn't be a mandatory obligation. For me, it should be something that you want to do.
Recently, I haven't been going to church because I've been busy with school and other responsibilities. I know I should go because lately, I've been really distant from God. I still believe in him, I still have faith in him. I'm going to start going to church, not because I have to, but because I want to. I love going to church because I love singing and growing up going to Catholic schools, you basically know all the church songs! I also love going because all the readings are all very valuable lessons. And it's the perfect time to go to church right now because it's Lent season. I'll start this Sunday.
