For many students at SHS, the transition from winter to spring is a period of warmer weather, spring cleaning and blooming flowers.
However, for Christian students, it is also a time of reflection full of prayer, fasting and Almsgiving.
Lent is a 40-day period that begins on Ash Wednesday and spans across February through April, ending on sundown during the Holy Thursday transitioning to Easter Sunday.
The Journal interviewed three students and one teacher who let go of something in honor of Lent.
Junior Hanna Arriaga
Junior Hanna Arriaga didn’t choose an easy sacrifice for Lent. She chose to sacrifice a bad habit of hers.
Drinking Coke every day made her realize her addiction was worse than she thought.
She described her decision as personal, rooted in something she felt she was dependent on.
Growing up in a household where soda is very common made her choice even more difficult, especially when she didn’t want to replace it with something else.
“I didn’t just want to give up Coke and then start drinking Sprite or something else,” Arriaga said.
That commitment has made the experience more challenging. Surrounded by temptation at home, she said resisting it has been the hardest part.
Still, the difficulty has pushed her to think deeply about her faith and intentions. Rather than following the tradition with a blind eye, Arriaga said she’s became more aware of why she participated.
Now that Lent has ended, she hopes to build healthier habits, like drinking more water and noticing a shift in her mindset.
“I feel like at the beginning, I did see it just as a tradition,” Arriaga said. “I feel like I’ve
also learned a lot about it, and it has brought me a lot closer to God and understanding him.”
Senior Matthew Moreno
What started as a simple sacrifice turned into something more meaningful when senior Matthew Moreno gave up social media for Lent.
“I chose (to give up) social media because I honestly spend a lot of time on it,” Moreno said. “To just have that time to not be on social media gives me time for prayers (and) just being closer to God.”
Without social media, Moreno began looking at life with a deeper perspective. The absence of scrolling gave him more time to focus on reality and reflect within himself.
Moreno described the experience as an opportunity to improve his mindset.
“It’s a very positive mindset because you’re always thinking about God,” Moreno said.
Since he stepped away from these distractions, his faith in God strengthened and his connection with his church did as well.
“It made me realize that I have a lot of blessings in my life, because you’re not used to not being on your phone. So you’re more in touch with reality in a sense,” Moreno said.
Now that Moreno is focusing on other aspects of his life, he’s realizing how much time and patience he truly has.
“I can actually be patient and more patient than I believe. Usually, social media takes up a lot of time…,” Moreno said. “When you take social media out, you realize that you have a lot of time to do things.”
English teacher Jessi Walpole
For English teacher Jessi Walpole, Lent was different this year. She stepped away from something that shaped a big part in her daily life.
For Walpole, her decision originated from something deeper than habit. She described social media as a stress factor and a catalyst for unnecessary distractions.
“It’s really bad for mental health,” Walpole said. “You have to really worry about your immediate space instead of the large space.”
Stepping away changed how others viewed her. For Walpole, being inactive on social media led to people misunderstanding her absence and assuming that she was ignoring them completely.
Conversation even became more difficult with her students when she wasn’t aware of things others saw or posted online.
Despite these challenges, Walpole said the experience helped her become aware of her habits. This helped give her a sense of relief while distancing herself from constant noise.
“I’ve been able to free myself in that way,” Walpole said.
For Walpole, the value of the sacrifice comes from what it represents personally, instead of how it looks to others. She sees Lent as an opportunity for personal growth, using discipline to become more mindful and grounded in her daily life.
“I think that the sacrifice, no matter what it is, the meaningfulness or the simpleness of it is up to you,” Walpole said.
Junior Erika Torres
What junior Erika Torres gave up for Lent wasn’t just a bad habit but something that fueled her daily energy.
“I felt like I was starting to get addicted to energy drinks and starting to drink them more and more every week,” Torres said. “I felt like it was something that I could offer to sacrifice what Jesus did for us in a way.”
At first, Torres said the change was difficult, especially when she felt tired and instinctively thought of an energy drink.
Giving energy drinks up forced Torres to rely on discipline and not give into the temptation of a temporary boost of energy.
“I stay motivated because obviously what I’m giving up is nothing compared to what God did for us…” Torres said.
Since then, Torres started praying and attending church and adoration more.
Through this experience, Torres said she learned that God is forgiving, and His love is constant. She also learned that even when things feel difficult, she can push through those challenges.
“I learned that I can still do it, even if it’s hard. I can still do it, and that no matter what, Jesus and God have so much love for us and so much forgiveness for us, for everything,” Torres said.
While each sacrifice looked different, these members of the SHS community show that the season is more than just a tradition about giving something up.
Whether it is giving up social media, soda or energy drinks, each sacrifice shows how daily choices can lead to deeper personal and spiritual growth.
The meaning behind each was similar, a desire to grow closer to their faith.
The experience became less about what they were giving up and more about what they were learning in the process. These reflections highlight how some are using Lent as a time to slow down and reconnect spiritually.
As the season continues on from Easter, SHS is reminded that Lent is not about perfection but about effort, reflection and growth.
