Living in her home country in Central Asia, Melike (change name), 26, was raised agnostic, but when she moved to the U.S., she began searching for her own definition of truth.

“It was something internal,” she said. “I was searching for the meaning of this life. I wasn’t sure what it was exactly. I was not satisfied with anything. I questioned, ‘Why do we live if we are going to die anyway?’”

When she moved to Portland in 2011, she began researching Islam and the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings.

“(Islam) made the most sense for why we are here.” A large grin lit up (Melike’s) face and relief was in her voice. “I found what I was looking for,” she said with bold conviction.

According to Professor Mark Unno, head of religious studies at University of Oregon, when students enter college they are exposed to new ideas and for the first time are able to form their own beliefs apart from their upbringing.

“Students are taught to think more independently, by the physical setting of the university. Their living arrangement is different, their method of learning is different and they are much more in contact with students from other religious backgrounds,” Unno said.

Jacob Monaco, 21, was raised as what he considers a “fundamentalist Christian.” He began questioning his religious upbringing prior to college, but his freshmen year at the UO was the catalyst for his change of beliefs.

“Coming to a place like (UO) where there are different ideas and people who think different things, you sort of have to start thinking, ‘Well, my beliefs are different than other people’s. What does that mean? Am I right? Am I wrong?’ You start definitely questioning things and trying to understand,” Monaco said.

Now an atheist, he says he doesn’t believe in claims without support of empirical evidence.

“I realized that a lot of my beliefs weren’t based on real facts. They were just beliefs that I had, just because everyone else around me did.”

Monaco is involved with the Alliance of Happy Atheists, a non-religious group on campus dedicated to critical thinking.

According to a Pew Research study, about 12 percent of Americans describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or unaffiliated with a religion, an increase from 8 percent in 1987.

“The overall trend in society is that not all, but many religions are experiencing declining membership,” Unno said.

He added that this trend is seen throughout the world but mainly in America.

According to Unno, privatization of religion is becoming increasingly popular. This is when people don’t necessarily participate in a religious community, but still have some form of spirituality or belief in a higher power on an individual basis.

Amid the Catholic Church’s sex scandals around 2002, Jennifer Bryan, 21, began to inquire into the validity of her religious upbringing during her sophomore year of high school. Although she continued to attend mass, per her family’s request, Bryan began to distance herself.

“I started feeling super isolated at church where everyone is supposed to love you and accept you, and I started doing some research and really started moving away,” Byran said.

Once she came to college she didn’t feel comfortable discussing her religious upbringing and chose to start a new chapter apart from Catholicism.

Bryan considers herself agonistic now.

“My ‘religion’ is to love people” she said.