Students find comfort in religions

In 1999, junior Sarah Riordan took a year off school to volunteer full-time at a women's shelter in Juarez, Mexico. She received room, board, health care at a local clinic and an experience that continues to guide her through life.\n"I think everyone comes out with a greater understanding of faith or at least themselves when they come back," Riordan said. "It's ironic that we get more out of it than I think the women do." \nShe is not alone as a student using religion to focus her life. Experts say today's youth are turning more to religion than previous generations have.\nAccording to Neil Howe and William Strauss, authors of "Millenials Rising, the Next Great Generation," young people born in or after 1982, known as Millennials, are drawn to religion's ritualistic, old-fashioned practices. The book says Millennials embrace the institutions, practices and traditions that earlier generations have spurned. \nMillennials also are the bulk of incoming students to college campuses.\nRiordan said the tradition of service cannot be separated from faith. \n"I don't think I could live a life dedicated to serving others without faith," Riordan said. "And if I was living my life dedicated for others without faith, what would that be? I have no idea if that is even possible."\nWhen Riordan shared her decision to volunteer with a friend, she said she got an unexpected surprise.\n"The day I walked over to her house to tell her, before I opened my mouth, she just handed me the book (a catalog listing volunteer programs)", Riordan said. "And that was, I don't know if you want to call it a sign from God. I don't know what you want to call it, but it made me feel really good."\nRiordan said her experience in Mexico helped her focus her energy once back on campus. Before volunteering, she attended college because she thought it was what she was supposed to do. Since returning, she said her studies are goal-oriented.\n"I've got a contribution to make, and I want to make that," Riordan says, "and I think that I've got a lot more value on myself as a person and I can influence a lot of people if I continue on that journey. So basically I have a passion now, and it's an amazing, amazing feeling." \nWhile Riordan finds meaning in Christian service, other students find the tradition of prayer gives them a sense of perspective when dealing with the stresses of everyday life.\n"How many things can happen to us in one day that if we didn't re-collect ourselves, could break us?" said junior Naimah Bilal, vice president of the Muslim Student Union,.\nBilal said reciting the five daily prayers required by the Islamic faith is a primary benefit of being Muslim. \n"It's just a sense of reminder. If I am engaged in a heated argument with someone over something that may be trivial or may be rather important, what calms me down oftentimes is my prayers," Bilal said.\nPrayer involves finding a place to make ablution, or ritual washing, and finding a quiet place to pray.\nBilal said she carries a compass with her so she can pray facing east and tries to find a place where she will not draw attention to herself.\n"I've prayed outside, in this library (the music library), in the Main Library, in the (Indiana Memorial Union). In fact, in the IMU, we have our own office," Bilal said.\nJunior Sohaib Sultan, president of the Muslim Student Union, said he agrees prayer keeps Muslims focused.\n"If you really do follow the five-times prayer," Sultan said, "no matter what you do, whatever day you're having, you're constantly bombarded right back into focus because every two or three hours, it's time for prayer."\nSultan said practicing Islam allows him to keep school pressures in perspective.\n"Personally, it gives me an easier time with college," Sultan said. "Because for me getting an A+ is not the beginning or end of life. It's a good thing. I wouldn't mind it, but it's not the end of life because for me, religion is my priority. It really defines who I am and what my life is."\nWhile Sultan finds Islam rewarding, he said it is challenging to be a member of a minority religion on campus.\n"It's a real big challenge because a lot of Islamic views are looked upon by the West or by non-Muslims as not the norm," he said. "So you kind of feel weird practicing in front of your friends."\nSultan said his friends do not always understand when it is time to pray, especially when everyone is sitting around together. \nSome Muslim students said prayer serves as a constant reminder that their relationship to God takes priority in their lives. Some conservative Jewish students said they get a similar reminder by keeping kosher.\nSenior Jennifer Steiman said the kosher practice of separating meat and milk transforms everyday eating into a religious observance, even if it means eating vegetarian meals at restaurants that aren't kosher. \n"That's taking something very physical, very everyday and very mundane and making it holy. Making it important. Making it Jewish," Steiman said. "It constantly reminds you of everything you do."\nLike Sultan, Steiman said her religion brings challenges.\n"I feel like it's very hard to be Jewish on campus," Steiman said. "You want to be like everyone else, but there are things that make you different. If you observe the Sabbath (following the Conservative tradition), that means Friday nights if there is a party, you don't go. And that means you don't go shopping on Saturday afternoons. And that's very difficult at a school where everyone goes shopping Saturday afternoons. Where everyone, everyone, goes out Friday night to a party." \nAlthough observing Conservative Jewish traditions challenges Steiman, she said it is worth it.\n"It sounds cheesy," Steiman said, "but it makes your life important. It makes your life meaningful"