Life at school and the pressures that come with being a teenager look different for every student. For some, there also comes the important question of what religion looks like in a public school setting. 

Freshman Pryor Best said that his identity as a Christain is something he carries with him every day. For Best, his faith gives him both purpose and comfort, but it can also come with hard decisions.

 “With peer pressure, a lot of people do things that aren’t really correct, you have to stay grounded and do what you personally believe is correct,” Best said.

Best almost finished his first year of high school, Best said he’s seen others suffer the burden of trying to fit in.

“When you first get into high school, you care a lot about what people think,” Best said. “But I think faith helps remind you who you are.”

Best grew up in a Christain household, from his parents and his pastors he has learned that Christainty is not about acting perfect or judging other people. Instead they said it is about loving others and trying to live with kindness every day.

“It’s really shown me to treat everyone equally and want the best for others, like how Jesus did,” Best said. “Personally, I feel like I want to better understand how other people feel to help them.”

Junior Maddox Middleton said he is very expressive with his faith, and despite many positive reactions, there have also been moments where he has felt judged or misunderstood.

“I’m in theater and a lot of people don’t talk to me because they see I’m a Christian,” Middleton said. “However, when they do talk to me, I’m very open and I want to help you, I wanna love you.” 

Even though Middleton said he experiences criticism, he said those experiences have helped him be a kinder person.

“I’ve definitely had side comments, there’ve been girls and guys that walk past me and make stupid comments” Middleton said. “But at the end, [it] shows [the] people I need to reach and people I need to show the love of Christ towards.”

Middleton said there was one moment of faith that still stuck out to him, the time he had approached a complete stranger about his religion.

“I talked to him and it turns out that he actually wanted to learn more about Christianity, he was waiting for a sign,” Middleton said. “I could say that God led me towards someone and influenced me to take a different way through the hallway to see someone else, cause I didn’t usually take that way.”

Middleton said that being a Christian and public school student goes beyond just what a person believes, but extends to how to act in daily interactions. 

“I feel like sometimes Christians will show up and act a certain way in public school and then look at the church and then they’ll be completely different. And I feel like you should take how you act at church and how you act around God with you through the hallways,” Middleton said.