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College is a time of exploration and new beginnings both in the classroom and out in the world. Part of this exploration is in what faith values students want to follow and keeping rooted in the ones they brought with them as they have grown up.

A common struggle of college students is finding ways to balance a faith relationship with God with relationships, friendships, class work, jobs, clubs and more.

Students and faculty have suggested a wide variety of ways to keep on a steady walk with the Lord during the college experience whether that’s reading the bible independently or finding a campus group to join.

“What we really want to emphasize with the Office of Christian Ministry is community and connecting a student with the larger Christian community on campus,” Dr. Charles Neff, executive director of the office of Christian ministry said.

There are a variety of groups available for students to take part in at Ashland University, such as The Well, Delight Ministries, Newman Catholic Ministries, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to name just a few.

Lauren Stotzer, team director of Delight Ministries has found a home in this women’s group and has used it to enrich her faith journey in college.

“I feel like it’s a place where we can come together…its very informal,” she said. “We can come and just hang out, be vulnerable, ask the hard questions, not be afraid to say what we need to say and know that nobody’s judging.”

Stotzer has expressed her thankfulness for Delight and the women it has connected her with to go through the journey alongside her and helping her to know she is never alone.

“Everybody’s journey is different,” she said. “[my] advice is that you’re not alone. It will be hard, but God will get you through it.”

Keeping the faith in college is already difficult because of all of the life changes that come with moving away from home and everything that is known, but AU and its students are doing everything they can to make it easier.

Part of this is finding people to go through the journey alongside you and ensure that there is someone to lean on a get stronger together.

Senior Cross Country athlete Taylor Anderson has found people to go on the journey with through roommates and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and expresses that involvement is key.

Get involved in clubs early, that’s a big thing, because then you start from there and then you just keep growing and growing,” she said. “Find friends who are religious too. My roommate is religious, and she reads the Bible every day and I’m like ‘Okay were just going to do this together.’”

With the multitude of resources available to students, there is something for almost anyone. While it may seem daunting to get started, there are multiple levels of involvement for students to

“We have things that are low barriers to participation, so if you want to be anonymous, you can come and you can be a part of worship at The Well on Thursday nights,” Neff said. You can sit in the back, you can come late, you can leave early, you can come and go.”

Consequently, when students get involved, there is always a community there for them ensuring that they are okay and checking in on their faith journey in order to encourage them.

“If you do get connected with a group, if you don’t start showing up, then your peers are going to reach out to you, that campus ministry is going to reach out to you and that’s part of the Christian community as well,” Neff continued.

Another aspect of the faith journey that students have found important is being a light for other people as they move through life, living according to what God has called them to and showing kindness to the people they come across.

“I just try to live my life the best I can according to what God wants for me from the Bible,” senior nursing major Katie Dunn said. “Obviously there are times when I mess up, but you just try to show that love to other people and go out of your way to show that act of kindness and check in on people.”

Dunn has taken her college faith journey further than the campus walls, all the way to the shores of Lake Erie where she is a Day Camp Counselor at Beulah Beach.

“Beulah Beach has such an awesome and unique community, you’re surrounded by people your own age and every single one of them loves the Lord,” Dunn said. “Just being there and being with people who are going through similar experiences with school…and having those people to help guide you through is super awesome.”

A last piece of advice for students outside of fellowship and community is to simply open the Bible and dive into the word. While it may seem daunting, students believe that so much can be learned by simply opening the book and getting started.
This has opened the door for students to have a relationship with Christ because they read the word and then see it working.

“How I see Jesus working in my college life is you know, he’s my God, he’s my Lord but also he calls us brother,” Senior Political Science major Jacob Kirkpatrick said. “Having faith is you just trust that you will have ups and downs like anyone will have in life and if you truly believe ehat Christ did and you believe in faith and you follow the teachings, I think you will quote unquote ‘live your best life,’”

For Bible readers who are just starting out and trying to get a good grasp on the Christian message, both Neff and Kirkpatrick recommend starting with the Gospel of Mark. The gospels are the foundation of the Christian belief system and Mark is the shortest one with easy-to-understand stories.

Students and faculty alike realize that there is a difficulty to keeping with Christ in college, but AU has created a multitude of resources for students to utilize, and fellow students are often searching for friends to have along in their faith journey. So, there is always a place to start and it is never too late.

“I just can’t emphasize enough that Christianity is best expressed through community,” Neff concluded. “That can be a small group, it can be your friend, your friend group, it can be people that you meet. Once you have that community, then you are experiencing the full essence of what Christianity has to offer.”