What Is It Like To Be Religious at University?

IMPACT 10

Impact writer George spoke to a Sikh, a Jew and a Catholic in order to explore the prevalence and accessibility of religious practices at the University of Nottingham.

How religious were you before university?

Japneet, 3rd Year, Sikh: My relationship with religion derived from how my parents raised me. They’d take us to the temple and to Punjabi lessons etc, but I wasn’t very religious before university.

Anonymous, 3rd Year, Jewish: My Judaism originated from my parent’s relationship with Judaism. I was never an Orthodox Jew, but I always held my Jewish roots close to my heart. I went to Synagogue every so often and partook in Jewish holidays and festivals with my parents each year without fail.

Sam, 2nd Year, Catholic: I’ve always been raised Catholic, I went to Catholic primary and secondary school, but it was really in sixth form when I began to get involved with religion on a

practical level. I was a student Chaplin at my school which meant I was responsible for arranging mass etc.

Japneet: University hasn’t necessarily made me less of a religious person, but I don’t engage in religious activities as much as when I’m at home.

Anon: I would not say university life has impeded on my religious beliefs or practices. There are plenty of opportunities to practice Judaism here at university. It so happens that most Jewish holidays fall outside of university term dates, so I’m able to participate in them from home with my family.

Sam: In my first year I became less engaged, then in my second year when I was at the Welcome Fair when I ran into someone I knew from my school who was involved with the Catholic society who was on their stall and we got talking, went to their event and got involved at university from there. Obviously, things like drinking culture etc present issues to some students and a lot of people I know do worry about that quite a bit. There’s a lot of structures in place within the university to ensure that you can do so in a way that is most appropriate to you.

Have you ever experienced prejudice at university for your beliefs?

Japneet: I think going from a predominantly Asian society and coming to uni, and then being one of the only two Sikh people on my course made it a little bit more difficult to adjust but it didn’t significantly impact anything at all. Anon: I’ve experienced a great deal of acceptance here at university. A lot of my friends had never met a Jewish person before and were fascinated by the customs and laws which I stick by. Sam: Mostly jokes but often they are aimed at the Catholic church rather than at my personal faith. I’d say in general the experience is very positive. People are often interested to know “oh what does that mean”, or “what do you do”. George Sullivan Page Design by Natasha Phang-Lee Photos courtesy of Google Images