Growing up in a Catholic family and attending Catholic schools all my life, I have heard the names "Jesus" and "God" on a daily basis. It isn't unusual for classes to pray not only in religion class, but in English or chemistry too. In the last few years my faith has increased by leaps and bounds. I have gone from "going through the motions" in mass and in prayer, to genuinely thinking about the meaning of my words and where they came from. I admit, I don't pray on my own everyday. I guess I don't really feel the need to. Every once in awhile I get the urge to read the Bible, and I open it up to a random page and start reading. Sometimes I amaze myself with the relevance that these random, spontaneous readings have to my life. Should I pray more? Probably. But I think that my belief that God is always present and God is there if I need to talk is comfort enough. There are some days when I'll say a prayer when I'm driving, or taking a test. But prayers aren't always!

verbal. I think that prayers can come when looking at an awesome sunset or looking at pictures,

Since I have accumulated more than 450 service hours while at Xavier, I have definitely grown in my love for volunteering (like I already mentioned). I definitely plan on continuing my volunteering habits in the future. At Madison I hope to get involved in a volunteer-type club or organization. And when I'm all "grown up" I hope to be able to volunteer in my community and church.

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or having a heart to hear talk with a friend.

Wow. I'm impressed with myself. This paper isn't all that long, but I definitely feel that I have said all that I need to say. To summarize: faith is an integral part of my life. Being able to pray and openly say that I am Catholic are two very important things to me. Xavier has helped not only my faith to grown, but also my love for helping others. In the future I will continue to go to Church, to pray, and to volunteer. My future career will include helping others, no matter what capacity it is. And like the Bible says: FAITH CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS.

What will my job be in the future? I don't quite know. I think that my love for helping others and volunteering my time will most definitely be a contributing factor to the career I do land in. I have thought about being a social worker, and more recently about being a high school counselor. I have seen so many struggles that people my age go through. I have seen many of these struggles through my friends. I hope that in some way I can help people feel better about themselves - be

Some common words found in the essay are:
Bible Jesus, God God, Jesus God, Christian I'll, Ideally I'd, Catholic Xavier, Wow I'm, Growing Catholic, UW Madison, Yes Catholic, continue church, xavier helped faith, faith grown, hope able, seen struggles, pray own, helped faith, church pray, grown love, xavier helped, love helping,
Approximate Word count = 1049
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)