"College is the one place that parents send their children to be taught that God isn't real." - My Mother
One of the main things I have learned about being a Christian in college is that persecution comes in many different forms. Fortunately, we are not all persecuted in the way that Paul was. He was in prisoned and in chains. I am glad I am not persecuted the way Paul was, I wonder if I would be bold enough to continue on with my mission as a Christ follower.
But I do know that if you are in college and you are a Christian at some point, your faith will be challenged, most likely by a professor. This can come in many forms, it could be you losing a good grade, it could mean you are publicly humiliated in front of the rest of the class, or it can be silent. By silent I mean you could be having your faith challenged and no one ever knows it.
In college, or at least at my college, we are constantly lectured about how we need to watch out for bias sources. Well, let me tell you, a LOT of college professors do not believe in our Lord and savior, which is fine — however, their information is extremely biased so please do your own research. I have had false verses quoted to me by religious professors. I understand Hebrew can be translated in many different ways but that is all the more reason for us to do our own research.
It is only my second semester at a university but I have had my faith challenged multiple times, usually by small remarks that the Devil will bring to my attention such as "we want to be like God, we want to control everyone." I actually laughed at this one, because I know what a good and merciful God we serve and to be honest I wish He would control me sometimes. I would have made a lot fewer mistakes.
However, this semester I am in a class where my professor is openly against everything I stand for. I have had to listen to this professor tell me purity is irrelevant in today's society, that seven of the books in the Bible were not written by who it says they were written by (which, in the grand scheme of things, doesn't matter anyway), and try to pervert the meaning of the New Testament. I can't tell you that my faith hasn't been tested through this but I can tell you that I have a personal relationship with God and someone telling me He isn't real would be like someone telling you your dad never existed. For those of you that do not know this, your dad had a big role in your conception.
Yes, they can get me to question my thoughts on the subject for a split second, that is part of living in a world that the Devil has access to, but they will not change my mind. I will not flee from my faith. I will not back down in my beliefs because I know that persecution is part of being a Christ follower. I will rejoice in this trial because with suffering comes endurance, with endurance comes character, with character comes hope, and hope does not put to shame!
If you are struggling in your faith I encourage you to reach out to someone that has a relationship with Jesus. Talk to the outspoken student in your class or go find the elderly lady at the church that everyone looks up to. Just like any other subject, you must do your own research. I also want to remind you that a communications major won't have a full understanding of biology, likewise, an atheist will not be able to fully comprehend Christianity.