College is all about learning; how to cook and clean for yourself, budget money and you even learn some vital information for your future.
But what else is out there?
A recent study conducted at UCLA found that more and more college students are getting in touch with their spiritual side and are trying to find answers to some of life's deepest questions.
So why, now more than ever, are young adults becoming more involved with spirituality? Brandon Smith, the minister for the Campus Christian House, says the overall transition to college may have some kind of impact on the search.
"I think when you go to college you're making tons and tons of life decisions," Smith said. "When you think about it, most of your major life decisions kind of happen when you're in school anyway, and I think finding your spirituality and higher purpose goes with that naturally."
Robert Keefer, a philosophy professor at Northwest, not only witnesses students searching for answers in class, but out of class as well. Keefer holds a job outside of the classroom as a Presbyterian minister in Clarinda, Iowa, which allows him to interact with a large majority of spirit-searching young adults.
"College students, partly because of age and partly because you are engaged in the intellectual life anyway, are ideal for being open for those kinds of questions," Keefer said. "You're not jaded yet, the way so many older generations are."
Although more and more students are becoming interested in learning about life beyond what is known, not everyone is looking for religious beliefs.
"A lot of people I marry are in their 20s and will often describe themselves as spiritual, but not religious," Keefer said. "They don't belong to a religious institution, so they don't have any concrete form to an understanding of things, but they have this vague sense of there being more to life than what is apparent."
That vague sense is often what leads students to look for answers beyond themselves. Smith, who has worked with CCH for two years, has witnessed many first-time students come in with a strong desire to unveil new questions they have about life, and search for answers to questions they have previously asked themselves.
A difference from this generation compared to others, Smith says, is that young adults don't want to be preached at, or told what to believe. As students go on the quest to find their spiritual sides, they want to experience things in a more hands on way.
"I think we have a desire and hunger to know God," Smith said. "I think students are looking for hope, I think students are looking for a purpose, students are I think looking for a reason, and a place to belong."
So what has brought on the soul-searching journey for this generation?
Keefer said the things people have always trusted to be true in the world are slowly changing, and nothing is for certain anymore. This is a large factor in the decision to figure out what is beyond us.
"We've got the first generation that honestly doesn't think they'll be as well off as their parents," Keefer said. "Up until now, we've always assumed the next generation will be better off and we no longer assume that. I think there's a sense of disillusionments of things we were led to expect, so we are left wondering 'What is real that I can hold on to?'"
Smith also agrees that students are beginning to understand they are not alone in their decision making.
"We're such a self-centered culture, and I think students are quick to begin looking beyond themselves because they realize a lot of answers to life's hardest questions are not found in them," he said.
To help students answer these questions, Smith encourages CCH members to break off into "family groups" to discuss issues in a more intimate environment.
"We want them to connect with other students in a small group environment where honest and real questions can be asked and honest & real answers will be given," Smith said. "There is no fear of judgment or fear of 'you don't know what you're talking about.' It's to encourage them to plug into a safe community, where they can honestly wrestle with some of those questions but don't have to worry about what they do know or they don't."
Keefer also believes making connections with one another is one of the best ways to find your spiritual side.
"People feel the need to belong, whether it be in Facebook communities, or everyone getting tweets from their favorite journalists or whatever," he said.
"We want to make real connections with each other and generally spiritual communities are places where people can make those connections, with whatever may be eternal and the desire to connect with each other."
Be the first to comment on this article!