Undergraduate / Religion holds a lot of mysteries where the world would never know - CommonApp Essay Prompt 3 [6]

Essay Prompt 3: Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

Note: My English is poor, I'm not a good writer or have a creative thought. I make a lot of grammatical errors like using present tense when it should be past tense. Stuff like that. Really appreciate if you guys would help me.

In my essay, I try not to get too technical into religion or shove religion down reader's throats. Tried to avoid using words like "Lord" or "God" if you guys know what I mean.

Religion holds a lot of mysteries where the world would never know. Roman Catholicism was the religion I was born and raised in. Inherit the traditions and practices that was passed along from my mother. Every Saturday night, my family and I would go to church; we sat, we prayed, and we listened to our minister. After that, we just go home, back to our normal daily lives. I never speculated the reason my family goes to church when I was young. Church has always been long and dull for me. And I could not understand the passages from the Bible the priest would read or I chose not to listen. "Why did we choose this religion?" "How would this religion help us?"; all questions I would ask my mother about our religion, but would never get an answer for. Since I didn't have any of these answers, I would have no interest in my religion. My faith started to decay as my curiosity began to grow.

The challenge I faced for my entire life was the religion I was forced upon. I never really had a decision to choose what religion I wanted to follow. My mother loved Catholicism exceedingly since it helped her during rough times throughout her life. She wanted the best for me to follow the same path she took. But taking that path made me question where I was and if it's the right choice for me.

To challenge my religion, I had to test my connection to Catholicism. I wanted to understand what the religion really means to me rather than just attending church and obeying my mother. I went to a Christian/Catholic summer camp that help adolescents reach their potential in Christianity; my choice of going because this camp will help me decide whether to believe or not believe. The camp was very life-changing; It helped clear my vision on how I see my religion, answered my questions why I should believe, and repaired my connection.

Looking back on the judgments I had with Catholicism, I regretted on how I felt before but yet appreciated that I challenged myself to learn the religion on my own. I understood why mother picked this religion and wanted the family to follow a religion that helped her during difficult times. Instead of doubting my religion, I wanted to build a better connection with Catholicism and grow my faith.