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The following is an opinion contribution and reflects the author’s views alone.
As a student at Princeton, I’m deeply saddened when I too-often hear that many of my peers frequently experience chronic isolation, depression, and anxiety as they navigate the ups and downs of college life. On our campus and at universities across the country, it seems that perpetual loneliness, and the devastating mental health issues that can follow, is far too common among college students.
What is causing so many students — youthful, energetic, and supposedly in the prime of their lives — to feel this way? How can we work to rectify this?
I don’t claim to have a one-size-fits-all answer to these questions. But what I can do is provide my perspective as a student here and my answer: faith.
Princeton is a magnificent place to be a person of faith. Whether it’s experiencing the holy sacrifice of the Mass on a Sunday afternoon in the beautiful University Chapel, attending a fellowship event with one of the evangelical groups on campus, or enjoying a communal Shabbat meal with Princeton’s vibrant Jewish community, to be a person of faith at Princeton means that you’re never without others who share your deeply-held values and sacred traditions.
As someone who has experienced a warm and welcoming Catholic community at Princeton from the moment I stepped foot on campus, I know firsthand what an incredible, transformative impact faith can have on a student’s experience at this university. After all, when you’re regularly participating in the most critical aspects of your life — prayer, worship, and growing closer to God together with like-minded people, you’re bound to forge deep, long-lasting relationships and, hopefully, make lifelong friends along the way.
I also know that my experience here is not an anomaly. My friends of various other religious denominations have shared similar stories with me — providing a fulfilling, uplifting community is an ecumenical sport for faith groups here at Princeton.
To my atheist, agnostic, and spiritually despondent readers, know that I’m not saying the only reason you might experience loneliness or isolation is because of the lack of a divine presence in your life. But just think — how might your life at Princeton change for the better if you merely allowed God’s infinite, unconditional love to enter your heart and surrounded yourself with others who would encourage you, walk with you, and lift you up every step of the way?
So, if you’re feeling lonely, lost, or trapped; if you’re feeling dejected, forsaken, or discouraged; if you know in your heart of hearts that you’re missing something really, really important in your life: please, just give God a chance.
Go to Sunday Mass and witness the breathtakingly mystical liturgy. Check out that Bible Study you saw advertised on your residential college listserv. Email that priest, chaplain, or religious advisor you’ve been meaning to talk to. Be at that dinner, that party, or that casual hang-out session.
Do that, keep an open mind, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll discover something beautiful that you never knew existed before.
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