After seemingly endless hours of class, homework and studying, all college students deserve the opportunity to unwind in their free time. For many, relaxation results from exercising, partying, sleeping late, watching a movie, or simply spending time with friends. Some students, though, escape stress in a different fashion – one not normally associated with typical college life – through spirituality and religion.

[1] Bruce Coriell, chaplain and part-time professor of religion at Colorado College, says the amount of students engaged in spirituality is greater than most believe.

“In the last 10 years, I’ve seen more and more interest on the part of students on spirituality,” Coriell says. “It is on lots of people’s minds.

“In terms of the life issues that kind of come along for college students, [religious] questions arise on a regular basis. They’re just kind of part of becoming an individual.”

In fact, 70 percent of American college students say religion plays an important role in their lives and one in four report an increased spirituality since entering college, according to a study conducted by the [2] Harvard University Institute of Politics .

Coriell says most people are naturally drawn to some kind of faith or belief system, so it is not surprising that many students are religious or spiritual.

“[Spirituality] gives people a chance to find some sense of balance or harmony or coherence,” he says. “Lots of what happens is that people have that sense that there’s got to be more than just me. That’s definitely a kind of question of spirituality.”

Students across the country spend their free time attending church and temple services, prayer sessions and meditation classes. They may not always relax in the stereotypical college manner, but still find respite through their own means of rest and enjoyment.

As part of the religious student community of America, the following three students represent those who escape college stress and find a sense of community through faith and religion. Though their personal beliefs may differ, all three say spirituality is an integral part of both their academic and personal lives.

A Christian Life at Brigham Young University

Ashkan Mamarian (left) of Brigham Young University. Photo courtesy of Mamarian.

A traditional Christian, Ashkan Memarian of Orange County, Calif. always believed in God and Jesus, but his beliefs are more important to him now than ever.

“My life as a Christian is inseparable from my student life or any other part of my life,” Memarian says. “The other stuff in life is so temporary. The only things that matter are people being saved and what’s going on between you and Jesus.”

Memarian grew up attending church with his brother and parents and says he is inspired by the personal faith of his mother, “the spiritual rock of his family.”

Now a senior at [3] Brigham Young University (BYU), Memarian attends church services every Sunday morning and a Bible study each Tuesday. He is the president of [4] Christian Fellowship, a student-run organization dedicated to fostering relationships among Christians and the study of the Bible. He also records Christian hymns and contemporary pieces in his free time.

“My life doesn’t depend on school. But I know that God has called me personally to do school at this point, so I am going to do the best I can.”

According to the BYU website, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon-based church, founded the college and continues to support it today. Though not Mormon, Memarian still agrees with many of the important values of the college.

“I am very much in the minority being traditional Christian, but I get along with most everybody just fine.”

While he enjoys being a member of an organized religion, Memarian says he often questions the meanings sometimes associated with certain religious communities.

“It’s our human nature to self-justify. Organized religion sets up rules so they [people] can feel safe. We all have this need… organized religion often fills that need with pride, and that’s scary.”

Memarian says he is not prideful in his faith, but rather “a slave by choice.”

Having faith in something, or someone, he says, helps him and can help others feel rested and calm while studying and working at school. But even though his personal faith is a driving force in his life, he says he is not much different from non-religious students.

“I’m a pretty normal kid except for the fact that the basis for the decisions in my life is Jesus, and I really just want to see people saved.”

Jewish Community at The College of New Jersey

Most freshmen arrive at college feeling apprehensive about making friends and finding a sense of belonging in an unknown place.

Freshman Emily Vasile of Haddon Heights, N.J. didn’t have that problem.

Hillel students at the College of New Jersey build a Sukkah. Photo by Elizabeth Getman.

“I joined [5] Hillel over the summer,” she says. “I adjusted to college quickly. There was no searching for a feeling of community. Having talked to a bunch of people in clubs definitely helped ease some of my nerves.”

A member of [6] The College of New Jersey’s chapter of Hillel, a nationwide organization for Jewish college students, Vasile believes in reformed Judaism . She participates in different activities with the group and attends Shabbat services every Friday.

Students who belong to the [7] TCNJ Hillel chapter are mostly reformed and hold similar beliefs and views of the Jewish religion, she says.

“To me, Judaism means community. It’s like a family. Most reformed Jews are very open-minded about life and always encourage questioning. I feel like you can ask any question and someone can give you an explanation that makes sense to you.”

Vasile was raised celebrating both Jewish and Catholic holidays because her mother is Jewish and her father is Catholic.

“Although I did celebrate both, I only consider myself a Jew,” she says. “I went through Hebrew school through the seventh grade and then became a Bat Mitzvah.”

The reformed Jewish community is a less “hard-core” and more “open-minded” form of organized religion, she says.

“I think most organized religions are too strict. I think if people believe something, they should be able to believe it without having to live their lives by a strict set of rules.”

Though the main reason Vasile follows Judaism is for the sense of community it brings, she says she understands the importance of faith in students’ lives.

“I think it [faith] guides us in life. It is a way for people to relax and someone to pray to if they’re in need of a listener.”

Buddhist Meditation at Princeton University

Unlike Vasile, [8] Princeton University senior Ian Petrow does not participate in typical organized religion activities. However, that doesn’t mean he’s not a spiritual person.

Murray-Dodge Hall, a religious center at Princeton. Photos by Elizabeth Getman.

“I think many people tend to make a bigger distinction between the two [organized religion, spirituality] than is need be,” Petrow says. “On the one hand, one shouldn’t blindly accept whatever one is told, yet at the same time it is necessary to have ritual and rules as a container , so to speak, for spiritual practice. A little bit of both is important.”

A Zen Buddhist from Charlotte, Vt., Petrow says he practices meditation almost every day and is the president of [9] Princeton Buddhist Students’ Groups (PBSG). PBSG is the only Buddhist group at Princeton, but one of many student religious organizations on campus, including a Christian Science organization, Muslim Students’ Association and Hindu Students’ Council.

Petrow says he was exposed to different spiritual paths growing up, but did not consider himself a religious person as a child.

Buddhism is different from other religions in several ways, especially regarding the significance and meaning of faith, he says.

“I guess faith isn’t something we talk about in Buddhism…yet it is important. I suppose that it’s important to get one through tough times, when all your work and social life is crashing down on you. We’ve all been there.”

Petrow says the most important part of his Buddhist practice is meditation, which helps reduce stress in both his student and spiritual lives.

“It [meditation] helps to clear my head and calm and center myself,” he says. “I try to bring awareness and mindfulness I develop in the meditation room into my daily life, too. Doing so helps me connect with the present moment and see more clearly into reality.”