Sophomore Huma Nizamuddin and her family are Muslim, and she has been involved with Sunday school since she was young.

“I started Sunday school in fifth grade,” Nizamuddin said. “In third grade I was in a private school. I was in a really close and compact community. We were all family friends. We left that community and I went to a public school. After that, [my mom] still wanted us to continue our Islamic learning so she took us to Sunday school.”

Although the purpose was to help Nizamuddin learn more about Islam, four hours of Sunday school bored her. Meanwhile, her mom’s friends and her sister decided to create a youth group for Muslim girls. Nizamuddin joined the group with some other girls.

“We had the idea for ‘Sisters Steppin’ Up,’” Nizamuddin said. “We chose that because it really reflects that we are all girls and how we’re stepping up, how we’re all just together and being independent.”

The girls in “Sisters Steppin’ Up” do fun activities together such as ice skating, snow tubing or apple picking. Then, they go back to the mosque and talk about religious topics. According to Nizamuddin, the group does a good job in helping the Muslim girls manage things that are on their minds by having open discussions.

“Basically, we talk about a religious topic and it has to do with things that girls connect to in this society, whether it’s just being in a school or handling stress,” Nizamuddin said. “We try to talk about religious things and focus on that, but it’s really free. Just in general, it’s a nice group that you can come together and talk with.”

The experience with “Sisters Steppin’ Up” has been impacting Nizamuddin in a positive way.

“It had [gotten] me to think differently,” Nizamuddin said. “But then, with ‘Sisters Steppin’ Up,’ I feel like I’m part of something and that I’m actually trying to do something better with my religion. They introduce a lot of things that you didn’t know before, and those things could really help you.”

With Sunday school and “Sisters Steppin’ Up,” Nizamuddin has learned more about Islam.

“Sunday school had taught me a lot, but this […] helps me connect to myself and society more,” Nizamuddin said. “In Sunday school, you learn about the history of Islam, how to read the Quran. I guess there’s theology but it’s not something that really connects to me as much. So with ‘Sisters Stepping Up’ you have not only someone to tell you about it and to teach you, but then you have other girls to experience everything with.”

For junior Katherine Loiselle, “God” has always been a part of her life, but she never learned to listen. That changed when she decided to join a youth group called Young Life.

Young Life is an international non-denominational Christian organization that has impacted the Glenview community, and anyone can attend no matter what religion they practice.

According to Loiselle, it is a welcoming environment for all high school students. She believes instead of forcing Christianity on students, the leaders are trained to encourage and love students for who they are no matter where they are in their faith. She believes Young Life is a place created to nurture students as they question who they are through their faith.

“What I was taught at Young Life was extremely similar to what I have been taught my whole life,” she said. “The difference, which changed my whole perspective on Christianity, was the way that the leaders showed me Christ through the way Christ’s love impacted them.”

According to Loiselle, before Young Life she was constantly searching for answers with nowhere to find them.

“I was brought up in a Christian home, but God was more of a fact than a choice,” she said.

Loiselle believes she never experienced a personal relationship with God until she witnessed the impact this relationship with God had on her friends and leaders in Young Life.

“You create friendships with people who you believe reflect the changes you’d like to see in yourself,” she said. “I realized that the parts of my friends that I loved most were aspects of themselves they believed were only present because of their relationship with God. These were the friends that led me to Young Life.”

According to Loiselle, Young Life has changed every aspect about her life.

“When you live for something so meaningful, every moment becomes better,” she said. “Now I don’t live for myself but I live for Christ, which makes my life worth living.”

Junior Caroline Collins incorporates her love for working with kids into her Catholic faith.

According to Collins, her involvment with the Religious Education Program for her eighth grade Confirmation service project at Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH) parish was what made her pursue it throughout her high school years.

“Religious Education is a program run through OLPH  that teaches children of that parish who do not attend the the school more about the Catholic faith,” Collins said. “It also allows children not attending the school an opportunity to receive all the sacraments.”

Because she likes working with little kids, the experience with Religious Education has been fun to Collins.

“I teach children in kindergarten, so we play a lot of games and they are able to do many different crafts like coloring sheets,” Collins said. “We try to read them one picture book a class. They are all very sweet kids who have different personalities, so it’s interesting seeing them work together and interact with each other.”

According to Collins, another reason why Religious Education is so enjoyable is because of her kids. She believes that they are all unique and different in their own way.

“They are all very sweet kids who have different personalities, so it’s interesting seeing them work together and interact with each other,” Collins said.

According to Collins, religious education not only allows little kids to learn and grow in their faith, but also shapes her own faith and character.

“Our focus is to try and teach them to be nice to everyone,” Collins said. “So I also have to live out what we are teaching them. [Therefore] I strive to be nice and less judgmental of others.”