Glenda Hernandez was enjoying snorkeling, parasailing, shopping and lazing about the white sandy Waikiki beaches in Oahu, Hawaii. It was spring break and Hernandez, Emporia senior, was enjoying her time off with some friends in her temporary paradise. While on vacation she and her friends attended a traditional Hawaiian luau. It was set on a beautiful, private island and consisted of hula dancers, a large banquet, and fancy island drinks. Hernandez sat watching her friends have fun getting drunk off the tropical beverages and listened as they teased her for not drinking with them. She wanted to join in, but she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. Easter Sunday was less than a week away, and she had given up alcohol for Lent.

Lent is the 40-day period of prayer, penance and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday. It is traditionally observed by Catholics and it commemorates the biblical story of the 40 days Jesus spent fighting temptation in the wilderness before he began his public ministry.

Originally, Lent was a time for fasting, says Paul Mirecki, professor of religion. Everyone who observed Lent gave up meat. Those who observe Lent today are given the choice what they should give up as a part of their religious devotion. This ritual has adapted to a consumer-driven society, says Mirecki, and chocolate and pop seem to be the most common things people are giving up. As the years go by, students admit to trying to be more creative when choosing what they give up.

Hernandez has given up something for Lent ever since her mom forbade her from eating sweets and drinking soda for these 40 days as a child. Two years ago she decided to alter her traditional soda fast and give up alcohol. “Being able to say no to my friends who wanted me to drink with them in Hawaii was such an accomplishment,” Hernandez says. “It made me feel stronger spiritually.” She was successful two years ago and has given up alcohol again.

Father Steve Beseau, director of the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, says what you give up for Lent should be a personal decision that is made based on what would be missed in your life. Giving up something that you are really attached to is the true sacrifice. Beseau advises not trying to take on something impossible as he remembers one year early in his priesthood. He wanted to imitate Christ’s experience in the wilderness by giving up sleeping on his bed. His plan was to sleep on the floor without his pillow, but his spiritual director advised him against it. His director said the sacrifice was too much to take on and reminded him that the thought behind it was more important than the act itself. In the end, Beseau gave up his pillow but kept sleeping on his bed.

Hernandez, who is giving up alcohol again this year, says it’s something she can live without but feels it’s something she should give up again. She admits she still craves beer and tequila shots on nights out with her friends, but so far hasn’t given in to the temptation. Unlike Hernandez, other students have used Lent as an excuse to give up a bad habit.

Mandy Marling, Topeka senior, is a Christian but says her church never emphasized Lent like Catholic churches do. Last year she decided to give up what she considered a bad and annoying habit: Facebook.

For Marling, giving up Facebook was an unexpected sacrifice. Ironically, she was invited to join a Facebook group that asked her and others to give up Facebook for Lent. Marling decided to join the group after realizing how much this social network was embedded into her daily routine. She calls herself a “chronic Facebooker” who would check the Web site multiple times a day. She thought this might be a good time to try to rid herself of this habit.

“The people who invite me to events I’m not going to go to or post pictures I don’t ever look at are people that don’t really matter all that much to me,” Marling says. “But the friends that matter the most to me I know I see often enough.”

Marling says she was successful in giving up Facebook last year, aside from peeking over her boyfriend’s shoulder whenever he logged on, but says she doesn’t plan on doing it again. It was the first and last time she has participated in Lent and as soon as it ended she stepped back into her old Facebook habits.

So whether it’s alcohol, a Web site or something else unique, people seem to be turning what they give up for Lent into a fun thing, Mirecki says. It’s an opportunity for people to reflect on their own lives and make a decision that works for them.