How My Faith Changed My Life

The past two years have been the hardest in all of my seventeen years of living. Choosing a topic is both easy and difficult due to how personal it may become. However, the highlight of the past two years belongs to my family life, and the actions of a certain former member that has affected the lives of many in my family. This person was in my life for over a decade up until around May of 2016, where the year truly kicked off for the family.

As a child, I grew up going to Catholic School, from Kindergarten, until eighth grade. My mother thought private school was best for my brother and I, as there’s a misconception that since you’re paying a tuition, the education is better. My mother was also Catholic at the time, so she was more comfortable with us growing up being taught religion, which should inevitably cause us to be Christians and believe in God. Years went by of me being educated on religion, and by the age of twelve, I felt guilty that I couldn’t process or accept the idea of there being a God. I came to this reality due to the fact that I didn’t feel the connection to God that our teachers taught us we should have; I didn’t feel loved by an alternate being, I felt alone, and I didn’t grasp how such a thing could be possible.

I went to Catholic school because my great-grandmother influenced my mother to do so, arguing that the values that I would learn there would not compare to anything else. As a single mother, she took as many advices as possible on how to raise me, especially coming from the most important person for her. However, my mother has never considered herself a devout catholic, or religious person whatsoever, and although she enrolled me in Catholic school she tried to give me as much religious freedom as possible so that I could find my own spirituality when the right time merited it. I was raised with a hybrid of religious and liberal values, and while I consider to have a strong pillar of moral values based on what I learned in Catholic school,

Pope Francis once said, “An education in the fullness of humanity should be the defining feature of Catholic schools.” To me, this sentiment sums up why a Catholic education is so important for many reasons. I have attended many different types of schools: public, private, Catholic and homeschool as a result of my father’s career in the military. However, only my experiences at Catholic schools provide me with a truly well-rounded education because, at Catholic schools, I receive the opportunity to learn about the amazing gift of God’s love every day during school hours. I love studying Scripture and seeing ways in which God is present in our lives. It is such a special experience to be able to do that in a school environment where you can really learn the fundamentals of our faith, as well as experiencing many different aspects of our Catholic faith, from prayer to Mass as a part of

I was blessed to be able to go through such a good school system. Some people complained about going to a private, Christian school, but I really enjoyed it. I do wonder sometimes though what it would have been like to go through public schooling and if that would have changed how I am today. I think the strong morals and values I hold today were largely created by my upbringing. But, I do think I used to simply claim to be a Christian because of my family. If my parents are Christian that must mean I’m a Christian, right? Going to college made me realize that my faith is something that I have to make my own. My faith is not necessarily my parents’ faith. I have to make a decision on what I believe and what I stand for, separate from my family. I remember that around the age of 14 I started to feel distant from God and was not very strong in my faith. Throughout high school I think I had different points of feeling “spiritual highs,” but felt like my faith was lukewarm. Today, I think I am starting to separate my parent’s faith from my own, and starting to make it mine. I feel like this is something everyone has to do at some point in their life. In the past year, and in the past couple months especially, I have had a stronger relationship with God. I definitely don’t feel “strong” in my faith, but I feel like I am growing spiritually. I think being here and the

Another reason why Catholic education is important to me is that since I have always attended Catholic school, it has become like a second family me. During religion class, my friends and I frequently pray for each other and we ask others to pray for our personal needs as well. Some of my classmates and I are so close, we are like siblings rather than teenagers who go to school together. If I attended a public school, with

I came to conclusions about my faith and Catholic Education. Catholic Education still does not mean much to me. However, it brings together people who (most of the time) come from a Catholic/Christian backgrounds, and creates a sense of community. For that I appreciate Catholic Education. What I do not find as nice about Catholic schools is that despite being centred around religion, people in Catholic schools can be just as mean-spirited, rude, and uncompassionate as people in public schools, if not worse. I am aware that it is unrealistic to assume that those in Catholic schools are all wonderful people, but I find reality ironic. In my opinion, Catholic Education is like public education, except Catholic students have school masses and are obligated to take religion courses. As I introduced previously, being subject to Catholic Education and those devoutly religious for the better part of 13 years has guided me to my brand of Catholicism so to speak. Catholic Education has inadvertently, or possibly intentionally, started me off on my own spiritual path by showing me what I do not like about Catholicism (eg. the belief that not going to church is bad). Spirituality and personal religious beliefs are lifelong works in progress, and I suppose that without Catholic Education my progress would have started later in my

I grew up in a very religious household with both of my parents behind the wheel. My parents are very religious people and they believe deeply in Gods existents. So in result, my parents want me and my siblings to be just like them. As soon as possible I was enrolled into a Catholic school called Saint Mary’s Ballston Spa. Saint Mary’s was a catholic private school that taught kindergarten through fifth grade. This is where I learned all about

Growing up I was always a Catholic and I would attend mass with both my parents, as well as being put into Catechism classes for my First Communion. At that point of my life I was still young; I was in second grade. I did not pay much attention in class and the value of my religion did

I’ve always had a very vague understanding and relationship with Catholicism. Growing up, my family never did anything to practice our faith. For example, the only time we would go to church would be for family events like baptisms or funerals. I didn’t think much of it and whether it was good or bad that we didn’t practice. I also never understood why my parents put my sister and I into catholic school instead of public school. Whenever I asked, they would answer with “We went to catholic school so we want you guys to get the same education too.” I would always wonder why I went to a catholic school if my family never did anything to show our faith. Not trying to say that catholic school was bad for me, but shouldn’t kids who practice Catholicism a lot attend the schools.

Ever since I was a little girl, my parents always brought me to Church on Sundays. It wasn’t till I started to grow up that I didn’t want to go to mass. I thought that it was a waste of time and that I didn’t need to go every Sunday just to get in heaven. A Catholic education changed this and much more about me. A Catholic education has made me into the person that I am today. After going to public school from kindergarten to seventh grade, I never thought these past five years of Catholic education would have such a large impact on my life. This education has meant the world to me and I have loved every moment of it. Getting the opportunity to go to Catholic school is such an amazing feeling.

In a private school, you can express your faith freely and love towards God and not have people make fun of us or mock us. We are allowed to say the Pledge of Allegiance. A catholic education teaches us discipline and how to act when you go to high school and or college. Public schools don’t teach that and that’s what makes a catholic education so special. Another reason why a catholic education is so important to me is because my moms side of the family went to a catholic school. All my moms siblings went to a catholic school, even her cousins and all her brothers and her sister (My Aunt). My moms dad and mom (My grandmother) went to a catholic school, so it is a family tradition that I go to a catholic school at least until the 8th Grade. My brothers also went to a catholic school. Although my dad didn’t go to a catholic school, he still believes in Jesus and doesn’t go against any religion. A private school is a privilege to since not a lot of people can go there. You can’t go to a private and talk and play every minute and not learn anything. The reason you go to a private school is to have a better education in a better environment suitable for everyone who is catholic and even people who aren’t

can only think of doing as a kid. Gaining friendship with the Alis changed my

Those who choose to continue on with the catholic school attend Bishop Kenny High School. I, however, made the chose to attend a public school for the first time. The change was dramatic, I went from a class of thirty people who I have known majority of my life, to knowing absolutely no one in a school with more than two thousand students. I did not stray far from my faith my freshman year, every Sunday I would attend the morning service and senior youth group at Blessed Trinity’s parish hall. This was an organized group made to give teens more of an understanding of the teachings of Jesus Christ. As my freshman year in high school continued I found myself going to church less and every so often I would attend the meetings.

Now it begins, the next chapter, this amazing moment where I start a new part of my life. The next steps I take might be at the door of your institution. To introduce myself, I am Matthew Kopsachilis from Long Island, a man who has one dream, to make movies. Today, you will understand why I am a perfect candidate to be a Film Production Major at your school.