College Admissions Essay: How Christianity Changed My Life

Over Spring Break, my family traveled to Eureka Springs, Arkansas to visit my family that reside in Kansas. Eureka Spring is an amazing town nestled in the Ozark Mountains. On our way, we visited the Precious Moments Chapel and saw a replica of the resurrection of Christ. In Eureka Springs, they have a play performed in the summer called the Passion Play and they also have replica of the resurrection of Christ and the theater is set to look like Bethlehem. Seeing all of these things sparked good conversation with my 12-year-old son, but it also brought back some sad and troublesome memories for myself. Growing up as a Christian, I helped my mom prepare for our local churches theatrical version of the resurrection. I was raised that because Jesus loved me, he had died for my sins. I was about 5ish when I attended the play. At one moment, Jesus walks between the pews of the church with slash marks across his back, a crown of thorns draped on his brow, blood running down his head and carrying a cross. The cross he would die on. As such a young child, I was horrified… what had I done for Jesus a man of love, to suffer in such a horrible way. I burst into hysterics and my mom had to escort me

Throughout childhood and young adulthood all of me was defined by my faith in Christ. My identities were determined by my belief system and the culture surrounding it; my Christianity defined my faith, gender, my orientation, my sexual expression, my cultural identity, and even my disabilities. Very few incidences shook this foundation and I was able to turn a blind eye or reject anything that conflicted with these set of beliefs until college. By the end of my first semester at Moorpark Community College my foundation was not only shaken, it was demolished in a blaze of glory along with all of my identities.

How can extreme suffering change a person? Going through a German concentration camp causes many people to have life changing differences in their lives. Elie Wiesel tells his personal experience of going through a concentration camp in his book Night. He shares the horrific events that he, his father, and others had to experience. After going through so much, many people do not have the same mindset as they did before. Being tortured and watching others being tortured changes a person’s life, especially Elie’s, his father’s, Moshe the Beadle’s, and Rabbi Eliahou’s.

A change within my life that helped me grow was getting a job. My first job, was as at Little Caesars as a shaker-boarder. My motivation was to help pay my family’s bills. I had to perform tricks, dance, and wave a sign on the corner of Holgate and Division. Eventually motivated I moved up the ranks from shaker-boarder, dish washer, to preparing dough, all during my last term of high school. However, my parents worried that I may dismiss my education for money. After discussing the matter though, it was agreed I would keep my job to pay for college.

When I was young, about 4 to 5 years ago, there were many, many young boys my age who lived in the neighborhood, but slowly, over the course of about 2 years, they all moved away from the neighborhood. Leaving me without friends, and reducing the chance of making more, because I lived right down the street from my elementary school, and I wasn’t able to stay there and do extracurricular activities, due to my sister, who I had to walk home and watch over. Which put me into a tough spot, as a young kid, I had done so many things that faded away as my friends had left, I used to play street football, street basketball, and just in the street, my fun in the woods near my house diminished, as I had noone to play with, no other minds, no other people

Knowing how to sing is a blessing that may come naturally to some people, but to others it requires practice and effort to learn how to properly develop this gift. Having seen many live performances and having a dad who could sing was an inspiration for me to develop such a talent. Music has always been my passion, and I knew that singing would give me another exciting opportunity to enjoy the feeling performance creates. I did not have a natural voice from a young age so learning to sing was challenging and pushed me beyond my orchestral limits--emotionally and physically--but with the strong desire I had and the toil I was willing to endure when learning this art, I persevered to becoming a singer.

It 's three A.M. and there is nothing but the crickets serenading the moon, no lights but the moonlight kissing the curtains and the warmth of the bed you lay on. And yet you can 't sleep because, despite the comfort and safety of your bedroom, your young mind can 't help but create a fantastical arena of colors and magic. The crickets outside aren 't singing to the moon, they 're fighting off an enemy through the music they play. The moonlight outside the curtains is the ethereal guardian whose powers are protecting you from the enemies outside the window, powers that are manifested by the warmth and comfort of the castle you reside in. This pure and wholesome imagination is one that creates for you a magical world that you are lucky enough to be part of and it is this part of childhood that I am proud to carry with me through the my life so far.

I am Wiley Hayes, and I serve several roles with Beyond the Bridges Ministry (BTB). My duties include serving as the program’s administrative assistant, managing the central office, and providing direct services to program participants. I have received training to mentor those who enroll in our Re-Entry Ministry, encouraging them to face the long-term challenges of returning from prison to their communities, as well as helping them solve the immediate and practical problems of housing and employment. I have seen how BTB makes a difference for ex-offenders. It helps them put their lives back together, find a place in the community, and put prison behind them. That is BTB’s mission, a ministry service provided to ex-offenders by ex-offenders.

I remember that night as if it were crystal clear. The night in which an unfortunate realization took place, a reality check if you’d rather. It was the beginning of my freshman year of high school, I was at home along with the rest of my family. My older sister was doing homework and i was surfing through the channels, bored as usual. I recalled my mom being in the laundry room, so I proceeded to go in that direction in hopes of being entertained. As I arrived at the door, I could, by the thick mexican accent, infer she was on the phone with someone who didn’t speak Spanish. As I opened that door, I could never forget my mother’s frustrated, anxious, and hesitant face. She forced the phone to my face, and asked me to translate. Since, this

Faith and works- In Eph.2:8-10) works are described as an outflow of the faith of believers. (Hebrews 11:1) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I do believe the word of God (Prov.4:7) Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Attending church Sunday after Sunday, I would always hear different sermons preached on faith, until recently when it was time for me to go through a process of having faith it was then that I realized I heard about faith and I knew the scripture, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. My struggle with having faith was I believed but still worried and allowed my circumstances too bring on stress. Matthew 6:25 has helped me though my times of struggling with faith. God has used different trials and tribulations to perfect the gift of faith that he has entrusted me with. I believe faith is stepping out on nothing to believe God for something. Now that I have a clear understanding of how to use faith I will allow God to use me to bless and strengthen others through testimony and

Sister Lucy Poulin once said, “We try to be a welcoming community for people who are left out in our society. We help people heal and become who God is calling them to be” (The Emily Fund, n.d.). In the case of Columbus, Indiana, members of the community do not always use God in such a positive way. Columbus is definitely a close knit community, but not always a welcoming one. There are two kinds of close knit communities; there is the kind that is closely knit by the members’ ability to be neighborly to everyone, and there is the kind that is so closely knit that it is does not allow any room for outsiders. Columbus is the ladder. As much as I admire Columbus, it’s also plain for me to remember moments in my childhood and presently where people

Being born in the southeastern United States, there is a very high chance you are both Republican and Christian. That true regional stereotype accompanies a behavior to discriminate against others. I have witnessed countless acts of racism and religious intolerance along with an irrational hate of homosexuality. Several members of my extended family act this way, as does the majority of Southern society I've witnessed.

I remember my grandmother explaining who Jesus was to me when I was a child. I wasn’t too sure about the details, but I knew that Jesus was who I should pray to when I was scared. I knew he offered some kind of protection. My grandmother made sure I attended Catholic mass every Sunday and completed eleven years of catechism. As I grew older, I knew that Jesus was the son of God and died for our sins on a cross. In catechism we memorized the prayers, but I never explored the bible for more than its literal context. As an adult I strayed away from my Catholic upbringing and began to look for something more. I fed my spiritual needs by entering into a more intimate personal relationship with Jesus. I began

Isaiah 53 should be a very critical prophetic chapter of the Bible when it comes to establishing without ambiguity that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is indeed the Jewish Messiah long awaited for in Judaism. Popular in evangelical circles, this prophecy clearly describes some of what Jesus of Nazareth experienced while here on earth. Contrary to the systematic way the translation of the Word of God has been divided, my belief is that this prophecy began in Chapter 52:13 and continued until Chapter 53:11. Although this passage clearly talks about the suffering messiah Jesus, we know that the Jews in general rejected Him as the Messiah and are still awaiting for the messiah to come although He came 2000 years ago.

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.” I said as i dutifully made the sign of the cross and picked up my book of hymns. As the organist began playing, I stared at the large golden cross that hung above the altar, its metallic sheen contrasting with the deep green marble. I was baptized as a Catholic, attended a Catholic elementary school and high school, and attended church every Sunday with my family. I made my first reconciliation and received a small silver cross necklace with a tiny peridot in the center. When I made my first communion, I wore a white dress with all the other little girls in my class, and had a big party with my family afterwards where I was given gifts of well-wishes and love from my family.