For most of us on campus, Feb. 10 was just another cold, busy Wednesday. But for some Terps, it marked the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period of reflection and preparation for the coming of Easter. Now, they’re two weeks in.
When most people think of Lent, they think of giving something up, specifically something delicious, but it’s about much more than that.
Some Terps said they gave up stereotypical things—chocolate, candy, or soda— and others did more obscure things.
“I deleted social media off my phone, so like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram- the big three,” said Grace Banach, a missionary from the Catholic Student Center. She said she wanted to detach from mindlessly checking her phone and start getting to bed earlier, among other ambitions.
Angelica Maria Melendez, a senior kinesiology major, said she gave up dining out. “I commute from home, and I could bring food from home, but in the morning I get up and just leave. Then I get here and I’m hungry and I’ll buy anything and everything that I see. So that’s difficult because it also means I have to plan ahead of time, maybe make lunch or something,” she explained.
When it comes to the reason as to why so many people voluntarily give things up for Lent, Kevin Chiang, a senior neurophysics and math major said, “When you give stuff up, you learn new things about yourself. You kind of find new things about yourself and learn how you approach that aspect of your life.” He also explained that instead of giving things up for Lent people will often actually add something to their day-to-day.
“I’m taking cold showers,” said Peter Fairbanks, a senior neurophysics major. Prompted by the look of horror on my face, he added, “It’s hard but a way to do it is to offer up every cold shower for a specific intention, friends, or family.”
In addition to not dining out, Melendez is adding an extra challenging twist to her mornings. “I struggle waking up in the morning and I’ll press snooze like a hundred times so I’m doing that heroic minute thing where you have to get up within a minute and that’s extremely difficult,” she said.
And it’s true: some of these things are extremely difficult, some seemingly impossible. Banach had a couple of pieces of advice she keeps in mind during this time.
First, she suggests, is if you’re doing something crazy challenging for Lent, or even if you’re not but feel like you’re not doing too hot, don’t do it alone. Even if your friends aren’t religious or don’t observe Lent, you should share what you’re doing with your best buds and they can hold you accountable because they want what’s good for you, as Banach put it.
And even more importantly, if you do mess up or cheat, don’t beat yourself up about it. “Lent is a great time to accept our weaknesses,” she said. It’s important to be gentle with yourself, she explained, “so that if you do fail, you can stand back up and move on.”