Faith and reason part of student population identity

Sophia Jamil

Staff Writer

From Christians to Hindus, students from all different faiths attend Hudson Valley.

“I have strong faith in what I believe in, and I love talking to people about my beliefs and feed their curiosity,” said individual studies major Connor Tuttle, who is half Native American and has Yupik beliefs.

“Not a lot of people know about Yupik beliefs. Everyone thinks that Native American cultures and beliefs have just died out, when really there are people like me,” said Tuttle.

Darshan Patel is a business major of Hindu faith. “I love my religion and everything it stands for,” he said. Patel doesn’t consider himself to be overly religious, but does occasionally prays.

“I always find myself wishing that the campus ministry had more religious variety in the prayer rooms so I could pray the right way,” said Patel.

Individual studies student Liza Dickinson considers herself to be a devout Catholic. “I go to church every Sunday and ever since my grandpa passed away, my religion has really been the thing that has defined me even though there are some things that I would disagree with, like how homosexuality is a sin [in my religion],” said Dickson.

Nida Amin, an individual studies major, is a Muslim. “My religion is my strength. I have so much faith and love for my religion that I wish more people would come up to me and ask me about my religion rather than assuming the wrong things,” said Amin. Amin goes to the campus ministry as often as possible despite class conflicts with prayer times.
Individual studies major Maxwell Miles, doesn’t feel that he fits in with any form of belief. identifies himself as an atheist. “[Religions] are all based on blind faith which baffles me and I completely disagree with it fundamentally,” he said.