Friday, October 30, 1998
Speaks Out
What role does religion and spirituality play in your life?
"When I was younger, I used to go to church more often, but now
that I’m in college, I’ve let spirituality fall by the wayside.
It’s probably not a good thing, though. I’m a Christian. I believe
in what I was taught as a child, but my attendance has gone down to
a couple times a year. Maybe cynicism has set in, but I think it’s
just laziness more than anything."
Yuri Balian
Second-year
English
"Religion is really important to me, especially on campus.
Because the atmosphere here is pretty impersonal, I need a ‘family’
to turn to. The church acts as that family. Spiritually, I believe
God is watching over me and that there is a reason behind
everything in my life. While I’m not God’s puppet, I still feel
things happen for a reason."
Anna-Lia Quinio
Second-year
Molecular, cell and developmental
biology
"Religion and spirituality play a very large role in my life
through everyday interactions with people, not through the dogma of
the Catholic Church. Though I’m a practicing Catholic, I recognize
there are many people who go to church, but who are the most mean,
inconsiderate people around. Others have never set foot in a church
but are the most outstanding representations of what it means to be
fully human. So, it’s not church that really counts but how you
deal with people."
August Hoffman
Teaching assistant
Education
"Spiritual-ity plays a significant role in my life, but I don’t
identify with any organized religion. I pray every night and I do
believe in God. However, church is not that significant to me
because a lot of people attend church, but they don’t really
believe in God and live righteously."
Kasey Todd
Second-year
Political science
"I don’t strictly follow a religious base, but spirituality
plays a large part in my life. Take (my) diet, for example. While
I’m a vegetarian for health and social reasons, it’s also very much
for spiritual reasons. But it’s not really for religious reasons.
My family is ethnic Hindu and religiously Sant Sangi, but I don’t
carefully practice it."
Ranjun Chauhan
Fourth-year
Sociology
"My faith helps me keep hope. When things are down, I’ll pray to
give me peace of mind. But, I’m kind of agnostic. I pray to God, a
higher being, but rationally, I don’t believe that it’s true. I
don’t know. I kind of create my own religion."
Grace Lin
Second-year
Electrical engineering
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