How easy is it to lose yourself in college?

[Xantippe]

Here’s an update on my current situation. I’ve been researching the Catholic center at my university and nearby parishes. I’ve made several observations. The most troubling observation is that all of the outside parishes have a sort of pro-life ministry while the website for the university’s Catholic center doesn’t mention anything pro-life. I’ve checked the service opportunities and it doesn’t have any at pregnancy crisis centers. I would think that a university center my have a post-abortion healing group, but, it doesn’t have that either. I checked if the university have a pro-life group and it does, but, even though it is at least 6 years old, it has only 11 members and not much information on their site. Okay, you’d think that a university with a vibrant Catholic community would be able to swell the ranks of such a club.

**Bear in mind that every year, the most senior members of a college organization leave. So, student organizations have to be continually recruiting or they will disappear.

11 people is plenty to do pretty much anything.

You may recall that after Judas killed himself, there were 11 disciples left.**

 

[EnglishTeacher]

Here’s an update on my current situation. I’ve been researching the Catholic center at my university and nearby parishes. I’ve made several observations. The most troubling observation is that all of the outside parishes have a sort of pro-life ministry while the website for the university’s Catholic center doesn’t mention anything pro-life. I’ve checked the service opportunities and it doesn’t have any at pregnancy crisis centers. I would think that a university center my have a post-abortion healing group, but, it doesn’t have that either. I checked if the university have a pro-life group and it does, but, even though it is at least 6 years old, it has only 11 members and not much information on their site. Okay, you’d think that a university with a vibrant Catholic community would be able to swell the ranks of such a club.

I’ve tried finding a FOCUS group and the FOCUS campus finder says that there is a group on my campus, but, I cannot find out more information. That site doesn’t provide me with a link to them and the Catholic center doesn’t mention them. So, now I have a lot more reasons to be concerned with going to college than I had before.

There is only one thing that I’ve found that could possibly help me. I saw that the president of the pro-life club on campus was a girl who graduated from my high school two years before me. I wasn’t particularly close to her, but, we were both on an academic competition team and a creative writing club. I’ve completely forgotten that she went to this school after graduation. I’ve been hoping that I could leave my high school and the worst four years of my life behind me, but, I cannot seem to get away. Maybe getting involved in a club in which someone already knows me will open old wounds. Or, maybe it might make things easier.

Anyway, things only seem to be getting more difficult.

Don’t give up on finding a FOCUS group; they are an excellent organization for authentic Catholic fellowship. There may be more information in the fall when the missionaries return to campus, but you could also contact them directly and ask them for more information on the group at your school and whether they work with the Catholic center on campus: focus.org/about/contact-us.html

 

[punisherthunder]

It’s incredibly easy, in fact, too easy to lose yourself in college. Upon my moving in day as a freshman, I was there two minutes and already invited to a frat party (it was a kegger).

The biggest struggle would be Friday night and Saturdays. That’s when everyone on campus parties it up. If it’s like my old college, there should be a Catholic center on the grounds or at least very nearby. I would immerse myself in that that place.

 

[pensmama87]

Bear in mind that every year, the most senior members of a college organization leave. So, student organizations have to be continually recruiting or they will disappear.

11 people is plenty to do pretty much anything.

You may recall that after Judas killed himself, there were 11 disciples left.

Right.

And even at really tech-savvy campuses, sometimes information is just not there to be had on websites, especially for student activities. Being there and attending an event or activities fair (there will be at least one) will be more likely to give you a taste of what’s actually going on.

It may be that the student group coordinates certain activities with parishes. I did not attend a Catholic college, but our school was affiliated with a Catholic parish in town (there were three), largely because the Catholic chaplain was also the pastor of that parish. So there were some things done by the student group, and other things the students did as part of the parish activities.

You may also end up being the person who revives pro-life ministry on campus.

 

[balto]

Here’s an update on my current situation. I’ve been researching the Catholic center at my university and nearby parishes. I’ve made several observations. The most troubling observation is that all of the outside parishes have a sort of pro-life ministry while the website for the university’s Catholic center doesn’t mention anything pro-life. I’ve checked the service opportunities and it doesn’t have any at pregnancy crisis centers. I would think that a university center my have a post-abortion healing group, but, it doesn’t have that either. I checked if the university have a pro-life group and it does, but, even though it is at least 6 years old, it has only 11 members and not much information on their site. Okay, you’d think that a university with a vibrant Catholic community would be able to swell the ranks of such a club.

Like other posters said, just because the website doesn’t have much information doesn’t mean the group isn’t active. I go to school at a technical institute, where you would expect students to be HTML-savvy, and some of the club pages are very poorly done. We probably have about 11 regular students in our KofC council and Newman group, so that’s not out of the ordinary. If the campus parish is not ideal, then you can always go to one of the surrounding parishes.

I’ve tried finding a FOCUS group and the FOCUS campus finder says that there is a group on my campus, but, I cannot find out more information. That site doesn’t provide me with a link to them and the Catholic center doesn’t mention them. So, now I have a lot more reasons to be concerned with going to college than I had before.

Does your school have a clubs page? There should be more than FOCUS for Catholic groups, so check to see if there are any others. We don’t even have FOCUS at my institute. I didn’t even know what it was until I started reading these forums.

There is only one thing that I’ve found that could possibly help me. I saw that the president of the pro-life club on campus was a girl who graduated from my high school two years before me. I wasn’t particularly close to her, but, we were both on an academic competition team and a creative writing club. I’ve completely forgotten that she went to this school after graduation. I’ve been hoping that I could leave my high school and the worst four years of my life behind me, but, I cannot seem to get away. Maybe getting involved in a club in which someone already knows me will open old wounds. Or, maybe it might make things easier.

Anyway, things only seem to be getting more difficult.

But isn’t that a good thing? I know you want to leave high school behind, but if you had an amicable relationship with this young lady could you send her an e-mail and say something like “hey, this is redbetta! We used to go to high school together and now I am coming to University X as a freshman. I was interested in maybe joining the pro-life club and was wondering if you could give me some details about what you guys do?”

I know it is difficult and nerve-wracking to head off to college, but our imaginations have a tendency to run wild with the little information we have about the situation. You’ll end up being okay, you will meet new friends, you’ll do well in your classes, and you’ll still be Catholic at the end of it!

 

[underacloud]

redbetta, you really need to stop worrying so much. You need to be prepared, sure, but you’re getting yourself all worked up.

University is a wonderful opportunity for any young (or older) person. You will find that endless possibilities are open to you, in terms of social groups, clubs, etc, as well as your academic opportunities. And importantly, you get to choose where you spend your engeries and time.

There are distractions along the way - as there are in life generally. I’m sure, as others have noted, that you seem to have good focus and will be able to nagivate your way through university and emerge with a strong faith and a good education.