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For many students, college marks the first experience of living away from home, managing finances and making important decisions independently. Amid so many new responsibilities, keeping God at the center of life can be a challenge, and campus ministers such as Marquette University Director of Campus Ministry Steve Blaha have seen many students struggle to maintain their faith during this pivotal transition.
“Your schedule for the day will change. You’re going to classes. You may get a new job on campus. You have new roommates and floormates, new activities to be involved in. There’s a big transition, and it’s important to prioritize those things that are most important to us,” said Blaha.
“That includes our relationship with God, eating properly, exercising, getting enough sleep, doing those things that are fundamental to our well-being and our prospering as human beings.”
“The really cool thing about coming to college is that we invite you to practice your faith (and) ask any question that you want,” Mount Mary University Vice President for Mission and Justice Dr. Andrea Stapleton said.
“This is a place of learning, but it’s also a place where you develop in so many ways that you don’t even know. You’re not just doing career preparation here. You are doing a whole life transformation.”
The current state of social media and technology also can challenge students’ abilities to quiet the noise of life and focus solely on God.
“Students often come to talk with me individually or in Bible study and discuss their struggles with smartphone addiction,” said Alverno College director of campus ministry and professor of religious studies Steven Dunn. “They often share how technology and social media distract from reflection and engagement.”
Dr. Joshua Clary, Vice President of Student Life and Diversity at Marian University in Fond du Lac, notes the across-the-board differences that prospective students have in searching out faith opportunities.
“A core group arrives highly intentional; they actively seek out campus ministry, ask about Mass schedules, retreats and service opportunities, and see the Catholic identity as central to their choice. A larger middle group values the Catholic environment but may not have a consistent personal faith practice,” he said.
Blaha suggests that keeping God priority number one during the college selection and orientation process can help build a mindset of keeping faith at the center.
“If you’re around for a Mass, go to a Mass,” Blaha said. “If you’re attending a Catholic university, connect with your Campus Ministry staff and team. Ask yourself, ‘When do people go to Mass? Who are some Mass buddies that I can make?’ If you don’t know anyone, you’ll know the Mass. Go to Mass. It’ll be the same rhythm. You’ll start to meet the people next to you.”
Dunn additionally works with UWM students through Panther Catholic, and he believes that many students who prioritize their faith already come from a family or academic culture that has led them to be “on fire” with their faith. He said that makes their devotion enough of a priority to carve out the time and energy needed to live their faith, whether it’s the sacraments, adoration, Bible study or other faith activity.
“My hope is that this generation of young, devoted, ‘on fire’ Catholics will help evangelize their peers through example and help grow the future church,” he said.
When it comes to those who have lost or deprioritized their Catholic faith, two different things often lead a student back to a deeper relationship with Christ.
For students at a Catholic college or university, the theology curriculum often provides the open door. Dunn said that the way even non-religious students engage with the content showcases opportunities for growth in faith. “Most of the ‘non-religious’ students resonate with Franciscan values, like human dignity, collaboration, care for creation, self-assessment and the pursuit of wisdom.”
The crucible of college life itself, the packed and often-unmanageable schedule and the stresses that come with each element of it, sometimes leaves students on their knees and leads them back to their faith to help them make it through.
“It’s usually students popping into Campus Ministry, needing to talk, needing to process their life,” she said.
“We meet them where they are, (and) they realize, ‘This is actually how my faith really matters to me, and this is why it needs to remain a priority.’ In my observations, it comes about organically.”
In the end, Stapleton believes that the self-agency of deciding God is a priority will often deepen a college student’s faith much more than it ever had been before college.
“They recognize, ‘This is what it means to have faith in my life,’” she said. “When they are making the choice of making it their priority, it becomes something that’s meaningful.”
