Females of Faith- Originally Published on HerCampus.com
UF’s campus has a reputation of being the home of a diverse student population. Out of nearly 1,000 student organizations, about 100 of them are centered on religious practices. Read on to learn more about students and what their faith means to them.
“I think that one should be open-minded and respect other faiths, and there’s nothing wrong with finding that conviction.”
Name: Fizza Imran, health sciences freshman
Religion: Islam
HC UFL: Has your faith carried over to college?
FI: “Yeah, definitely. With most faiths, it’s hard to implement into your life. With Islam, it’s my lifestyle. I try to implement the core values that Islam teaches just in general things, like how to interact with other people, the way I dress, the way I eat… I basically implement it into every aspect of my life.”
HC UFL: How has your faith influenced your perception on things?
FI: “I have a very positive outlook and I do believe that’s because of my religion because Islam teaches you to respect other people, respect yourself and always look at the positives in your life. It’s about genuinely being (a) good person, or trying to achieve a lifestyle in which you, at the end of the day, would say, ‘I’m happy with the person I was.’”
“One of the biggest things that Sikhism preaches is that there are different names for God; God is essentially the same, whether you’re Christian or Muslim or Hindu. You worship the same God in different ways.”
Name: Harshpreet Kaur, biology senior
Religion: Sikhism
HC UFL: What is a fundamental teaching of Sikhism?
HK: “The best thing about Sikhism is that there’s no discrimination. There’s no caste; you’re not to judge people for what they believe in or what they do. Every Sikh temple has four doors that signify north, south, east and west. The four doors signify that we welcome anyone from any direction and they don’t have to change their religion to come sit with us.”
HC UFL: Is there a time when your faith was tested?
HK: “My dad was picking me up one day from middle school, and someone basically said that my dad was a terrorist. So, it’s one of those things where you begin to wonder, ‘Why is this happening? This is wrong.’ For me, it’s more personal time with God that helps get me through that stuff. Sikhism says to always be thankful. If you’re always thankful about things and look at what you have rather than what you don’t have, you really begin to see how good life is rather than finding flaws in it.”
“I live my life for God and he gives me everything, so I think I owe it to him to try to do a good job with it.”
Name: Noelle Surette, elementary education junior
Religion: Christianity
HC UFL: What do you think about how people view Christianity?
NS: “I think some people associate being Christian to not being fun and not being able to go out and have a good time. And I feel a lot of the time, they equate Christianity with that person screaming at them on the road, and they think that everyone is like that. I wish they’d know we’re out to love people and to share Jesus’ love; we’re not out there to force you to convert or ‘beat you into Jesus.’”
HC UFL: How does your faith guide your life?
NS: “It’s everything. It’s like a breath of fresh air. I wake up every morning and there’s so much joy and hope and love and potential in the world. I want to inspire others and reach others, so it’s different than just living for myself.”
So, collegiettes™, now that you know a bit more about other faiths, do you have one you wish people knew more about? Tell us in the comments below!