World events put Atmar in an unusual position, but acclimating to campus religious life can be hard for anyone. A few suggestions to ease the transition:
*Be prepared: Starting college at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, was “quite a shock” for Asia Griffin, 21, a senior majoring in communications and sociology. A Baptist, she’d attended a Christian high school in Michigan and was unaccustomed to the university’s religious diversity. Still, she says, “I knew I’d face things I hadn’t seen before.” So she came to campus with a list of rules: “No drinking, no drugs, no sex before marriage. My relationship with God was going to be everything.” She says she’s stuck to them all. Deciding ahead of time is important, says Altaf Husain, a former MSA president. “You have to find your religious identity,” he says.
*Challenge yourself: Don’t worry if you can’t find it right away, though–college is often the time when people challenge their belief systems. Campus religious organizations often sponsor retreats, study sessions and seminars to help you with your questions. Every fall, dozens of freshmen at the University of Illinois go away for a weekend retreat with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, where they listen to speak-ers, study the Bible and socialize with Christian peers. Going to a regional MSA-sponsored networking conference helped Husain meet with professionals in fields that don’t attract many Muslims. “If I’d followed a traditional track for a Muslim man, I’d have studied engineering,” says Husain, who’s getting his Ph.D. in social work at Howard University. “But then you see a woman in a higab who talks about med school and you think, ‘If she can do that, I can do this’.”
*Unwind: Religiously affiliated fraternities and sororities provide a connection to a shared heritage (and, with luck, some great parties). “I found a home away from home,” says Jeremy Greenberg, 22, a member of Syracuse University’s chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi, a Jewish fraternity. But sometimes the best way to get involved with religious life is to explore off campus. The organization “birthright israel,” funded by Jewish philanthropists, allows Jewish students, ages 18 to 26, to take a free 10-day trip to Israel. Roughly 8,000 students went in the summer of 2003. If you’re Christian and want a different kind of spring break, consider Campus Crusade for Christ’s Big Break. More than 3,000 students head to Panama City Beach, Fla., every March to worship, evangelize and, of course, hit the beach.
*Get involved early: “Most friendships are formed in the first six weeks of school,” says Phil Evans, a spokesman for Intervarsity Christian Foundation. “Find a community of people who share your values.” Aviva Kieffer, 22, a recent Rutgers graduate, wanted to find Jewish friends, so she “walked in the doors of Hillel the second I walked on campus.” The friends she made at that Jewish organization gave her a sense of belonging during freshman year. “I never felt alone or like I was drowning,” she says. “Before, I would ask, ‘Who am I? Where am I going?’ But in Hillel I found that I had the answer the whole time.”
