Student Affairs
Unlike some of the fellows a part of the Center for Religion and Global Citizenry (CGRC) the University of Wisconsin Madison is not the only institution that I have attended. During my first year of college, I had the privilege to be enrolled at St. Norbert College where I had an amazing first year. St. …
Growing up in an Israeli Jewish household in a conservative, suburban, and very Christian New Jersey town, I always felt like a little bit of an outlier. My sleepaway camp was the only place where the majority of my peers understood and related to my upbringing. It was my haven, and it was where I …
Chances are, if you ask me about my spiritual background or why I am agnostic, I will tell you that I just don’t care. It really isn’t deep, it doesn’t have a long-winded story of why I am no longer religious after attending Catholic school for ten years, and it has nothing to do with …
I grew up in a monocultural community in a suburb of the Twin Cities. People tended to look like me, act like me, and many shared the same beliefs that I did. Coming to school in Madison and living here for nearly a year and a half introduced me to communities I had never interacted …
My interest in religious philosophy was kindled three years ago, when a young man with a severe borderline personality disorder made the decision to struggle against this destiny. I was born in the most impoverished major town in China, in a poor family full of quarrels since I can remember. My earliest memories were pain …
A recent conversation with some friends about potential Halloween costume ideas quickly turned into a discussion of how we celebrated the holiday growing up. One of my friends had the iconic house in the neighborhood where a single bowl of candy would be left on the porch for Trick-or-Treaters with a sign that read – …
It seems like every few weeks, something happens around the world that causes the media to label Muslims as “radical”, “unaccepting”, or “misogynistic and backwards” just to name a few. As a first generation Muslim American, these depictions of my religion are very disheartening. Way too often, I must explain to a new friend or …
Growing up in a small town of 5,000 people with views that were sometimes just as small, I felt out of place, but at home at the same time. I grew up with a strong Catholic background, so for most of my life, I knew who I was; I knew my faith. I didn’t have …
Gigi has been one of my good friends since I was nine years old. Her parents raised her as Bahai. Though we come from different religious backgrounds, we established a strong relationship through our passion about our faiths. Gigi and I met as fourth graders at National Cathedral School (NCS) in Washington, D.C., an all-girls …
Entering Freshman year of high school, almost all of the people I knew were Jewish. For ten years of my life, I attended a Jewish day school with Jewish people and Jewish values. I took a Jewish studies and Jewish identity class every single day. I searched for my Judaism, my beliefs, and what made …