However, this year is a little different. For the first time since I began university, I have only a very vague idea of what I can expect in the next academic year. I am in transition and have been for the last few months. During this time, I have turned to prayer more frequently than usual.

In March, I was accepted into the Faculty of Law at the University of New Brunswick, a university with a great law program and my first choice of schools. I have also recently become engaged to a wonderful man who has been with me during most of my struggles through my last degree. While the excitement of getting closer to my dream career and future is exciting and certainly a blessing, there is also a large amount of fear and anxiety that comes with any big life change.

As young adults, making the transition from high school to university or from university to the next step in our lives is often the toughest one to cope with. We may face leaving our families, our friends, our mentors, our comfort zones and our homes. But one thing that does not have to change is our faith.

Staying spiritually minded during these transitional times helps assure us of God’s plan for us. There are simple things that we can do in our lives, things that many of us probably already do. Surround yourselves with other faithful people by starting or joining a group in your new school or workplace. Take the time to ponder the words of the Gospels, whether during Mass or through journalling when you have some alone time. Think positively when things don’t go exactly the way you want them to. One missed opportunity could be a blessing in disguise. And perhaps the most important thing to do is something which we do without necessarily even thinking about it.

Prayer can assist us in transition perhaps more than anything else. More than once over the last couple of months I have silently prayed for God to help me get a better grasp on logic games in preparation for taking the LSAT exam or offered a prayer to give me the motivation to write my honours paper. I pray to the Lord to help me with the little things and to thank Him for His blessings because I know there are difficult times ahead.

For all students and young people who are struggling to figure out what the next step in their lives will be, I offer up the old adage in times when our hardships are greatest: “The Lord never gives us more than we can handle.”

(Keating, 23, is a student in English Literature and German culture student at Memorial University in St. John’s, Nfld.)