As citizens of the United States, we believe we are guaranteed certain unalienable rights, better defined throughout American history as, “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” These rights are further justified by the First Amendment:“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Yet, in the past few weeks, media outlets have forgotten that the same amendment that gives them to ability to write and speak also gives citizens access to their choice of spiritual guidance.

When it comes to the First Amendment, New York City always seems to shake things up. As far back as the yellow journalism of Hearst and Pulitzer, New York has always been at the forefront of First Amendment debates. Only now, instead of Daniel Ellsberg exposing presidential slacking with the Pentagon Papers, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is fighting to give lower Manhattan Muslims a place to worship and interact in Park51.

As a journalism student, it seems illogical not to support. The freedom of religion is a portion of the amendment that will give me my career. However, as a plain college student, the debate between religions in New York had me thinking about the debate between religions in my head.

How can we reconcile faith and college life? In my time before my arrival on campus, I wasn’t sure I could. New York, one of the most diverse cities in the country cannot even guarantee religious freedom without upsetting someone.

I left for ASU without going to Mass for the prior two weeks. I had ample opportunity to attend, but service never seemed to make it onto the calendar. I know it was just one more hour to the week. But of course, I was too busy. I had a life starting halfway across the country. Approximately twelve-hundred miles is a long way!

Yet, after completing the first few nights of college, I must say — I’m craving God. Though I have nearly every family member who I don’t normally get to see at my fingertips in Arizona, I feel lonely.

The first night, I recited the first prayer I ever learned to myself: “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Guide me safely through the night and wake me in the morning light. If I shall die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” I cannot remember the last time I said that as my prayers have evolved to poetry and sophistication beyond a simple rhyme. Okay, that isn’t true, but nursery rhymes seemed absent from my prayers all these years.

It brought a comfort to me, though. I don’t get homesick, but that feeling behind my pancreas that some might call a twinge for home dissolved. The first night was easy.

At secular universities, students are not exactly flocking to services the way Ke$ha flocks to Jack. When I asked a girl if she was going to Mass on Sunday she said, “I’ve gone once a week for ten years…I’m kind of over it.”

But, students may be overlooking the calmness that religion can bring. Prayer, meditation or thinking about something else gives us solace in times of sorrow (see homesickness) and gratitude in times of celebration (see great mid-term grade). At the very least, walking into a house of worship brings an aura of silence and calms the mind, if only for a bit.

Every religious leader says our relationship with (insert-higher-power-here) should be a journey, constantly questioned and doubted, strengthened and renewed. Much like the mosque and community center (do not forget the community center) can give religious opportunities for lower Manhattan Muslims who are lacking an organization within their city, a religion during college can give some order in a life that we have to create all our own.

I’m not asking you to be christened, confirmed, inducted (or drink the Kool-Aid), but think about it. Anywhere from two minutes a day to two hours a week, it may be nice to sit in solemn silence–just submit.

So maybe, it’s not about maintaining a religion in college, so much as maintaining a dialogue devoid of judgment and annoyance. It’s about maintaining a balance of life and reflection on that life. As one student on my floor told me, “If He does love everything, even if people reject him, it shouldn’t matter. People aren’t perfect.”

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