Real talk time: College has completely changed my view on Christianity.

I was raised a Christian my whole life. I attended Catholic school from the age of 5 to 18. I went to church every week, sometimes twice. And yet, I still knew little about Christianity. Or maybe I just didn't embrace the reality of God. Whatever it was, I didn't realize the truth about my faith until I got to college.

Before college, I saw religion and faith as a chore. I went to mass every week because that's what I had always done. I treated religion as a class in school and little more.

But then I started college, and everything changed.

I was in a whole new place, where I knew next to no one. College was overwhelming, both in and out of the classroom. And I was dealing with everything alone. And that's when I realized that I was going to need something (or rather someone to lean on). And that someone was God.

So I began delving deeper into prayer, talking to God at the library when I was stressed or in my dorm room when I was crying from being homesick. But I was still not completely embracing my faith, choosing only to celebrate God in private. Slowly, however, I started to see how religion was treated at college. And it completely changed my view on Christianity and here's a few of the ways how.

1. Christianity is cool.

At college, it wasn't nerdy or weird to love your faith. Instead, I saw college kids rejoicing in the Lord and sharing their love for God with others. People went to church with their friends and spent their spring breaks on mission trips. At college people treated Christianity as what it was: something so amazing that it needed to be shared.

2. There's no one way to be Christian.

I found myself surrounded by tons of different Christians, from a variety of denominations and backgrounds. But no matter what, each of them loved Jesus and his message an incredible amount.

3. Faith deserves to be a priority.

College is possibly the most stressful and hectic time of your life. It's easy to put faith on the back burner. But if I've learned anything, it's that when life gets stressful, you have to lean on God. It's OK to take an hour break from studying to talk to Jesus at church. In fact, it might be the best thing for you (and may even prevent you from putting homework off til Sunday).