Religion

I was raised in a very Catholic family. Mostly because my father was raised in a very Catholic family. And his father was raised in a very Catholic family (and so on). The only excuse for missing a Sunday mass was extreme illness. An hour and a half of every Friday afternoon was dedicated to CCD from 1st to 10th grade. With 20 first cousins alone, I have attended countless Baptisms, First Communions, and Confirmations. Religion was a big part of my identity as a child and continued to be a defining factor in my teenage years. This was not necessarily my choice. Practicing Catholicism was something I did because my parents told me I should. Church was never something I thought about, just a routine part of my week, no different from going to school each day. I never questioned what I was told to believe in.
Ironically, my feelings on religion changed once I started at my Catholic college. Without my parents there to urge me, I did not attend mass every week. I was also exposed to other views on religion. Outside of my CCD education, I had never had a religion class before my freshman year. My professor made me seriously question what religion means. The class opened my eyes to the possibility that plenty of people do not believe that God exists, and that organized religion does not make you a spiritual person.
I am still in my "rebel" phase, and have become one of those people my parents can't stand - attending mass only on holidays and the anniversary of my grandmother's death. However, at this point in my life, I feel more spiritual than ever before. I would wager everything on God's existence. Maybe I'm naive, but I have to have faith in a higher power in order to exist. The idea that everything is random makes me feel empty and hopeless. Of course there are days when I question how God could allow such terrible things to go on in the world, but it all comes down to my faith in something bigger than all of us, and my belief that everyone has a purpose.