How Attending Chapel on Campus Can Help You Succeed in School

The transition to college can be unfamiliar and challenging. You need to balance work and study time, to complete tough assignments, navigate new relationships, and to live life as an adult—all without the adults who have always been by your side. But when you attend a faith-based school, you have a special resource to help face these trials and meet them head on. In addition to student services, you can access an active faith community and regularly attend chapel. Attending services and connecting to other parishioners will help keep you grounded, remind you of your higher purpose, and allow you to focus on real priorities like your education and academic success. Attending chapel has many benefits.

You Can Meet Like-Minded People

If you feel lonely on campus, the chapel offers an opportunity to be part of a community. You’ll worship with others who share similar values and believe as you do. When you are in the company of like-minded people, you feel safe and less alone. Since you know that you and your peers are united in your faith, it’s easier to break the ice with people you haven’t met yet. If you’re an introvert, consider the chapel as a good place to start to socialize. And if you’re more of an extrovert, the chapel is another space where you can begin to build friendships, get to know others, and maybe reach out to students not as confident as you are.

Chapel Feels Familiar

If this is your first time in college, the on-campus experience can be a little jarring. Higher education is different than the K-12 experience you’re used to. You might not live at home anymore, and you could be far from family and friends. You’ll take new classes, meet new people, and take on more responsibilities than you ever have before. You might be involved in sports and clubs, maybe even a work study job. It’s lots of “new,” lots of change. Chapel services can help you adjust to all of these changes. Even when everything feels unfamiliar, your faith can provide a sense of comfort because it is familiar. It’s a part of who you are. Through regular attendance, you can strengthen your faith. By the time you graduate, you’ll be mentally and spiritually prepared to deal with the next new set of changes that come at the start of your career.

Chapel Can Shape Your Character

You learn academic lessons in the classroom. In chapel, you learn spiritual lessons that affirm your faith, and shape and strengthen your character. These teachings help give you the fortitude to resist temptations along your college journey. There will be many. Not everyone is as determined, focused, and passionate about where they’re going as you are. Even you may be tempted to compromise your values to fit in. These occasions are uncomfortable but with regular chapel attendance, you can learn how to navigate them with grace.

You’ll Be Reminded of the Bigger Picture

It takes hard work to earn a college degree. There’s no easy way to do it. You’ll need to study hard, complete a lot of assignments, and hone your technical and soft skills. This takes a lot of time, and if you’re involved in extracurricular activities, you’ll have an even busier schedule. But when your head is stuck in a textbook all day, it can become easy to lose sight of the big picture. What are you doing all of this work for? Your time in chapel will remind you that it’s not all about you. In fact, it’s not about you at all. It’s about serving a bigger purpose in this world—which is easy to forget when final exams are around the corner.