College is a time when many students are free for the first time to decide how they will practice their religion, and for some, the balance between school and worship becomes a difficult combination.

According to a study at the University of California at Los Angeles, 83 percent of incoming freshmen claim they attended religious services in the year prior to entering college, but many do not keep the same worship habits they practiced with their families.

"I went regularly when I was home, but now church-goings are definitely less frequent. I try, I really do, but I don't go as often. Work and practice take precedent over church," Kinesiology sophomore Andrea Parker said.

While students may not attend religious events on a regular basis, as Easter and Passover approach, many Christian and Jewish students do plan on observing the important holidays.

"For most Jews, attending a Passover seder is a central part of the culture of Jewish life," Executive Director of Hillel Michael Brooks said.

"While college is often a period in many students' lives when they take a time out from much of their formal religious observance, both believers and doubters have always had a place at the seder table," he added.

The tradition of attending an Easter or Passover service is an important factor in why students make a special effort to attend on the holidays.

"A lot of people who observe Easter are looking for some of those great experiences they had as children - the experiences that make up their special childhood memories," Rev. Matthew Lawrence of Canterbury House said.

Although most students say they do not feel pressure from their families to attend religious services, many return home to observe the holidays with their families.

"Judaism for me is mostly a family thing. I don't practice it as much here," LSA sophomore Rebecca Mostov said. "When there's a holiday I want to be at home to share it with my family."

"I think most people grow up with Easter," LSA junior Emily Harris said. "It's a holiday that has a lot of personal meaning, and I just want to be with my family to celebrate it."

Many students find they are too busy to leave Ann Arbor for Easter or Passover.

"Not everybody gets a chance to go home," Rabbi Alter Goldstein of Chabad House said. "Some people get stuck here with schoolwork or jobs, so we try to accommodate everybody."

Some students feel their place of worship here in Ann Arbor has become more a part of their religious life than where they worshiped at home, and want to spend the holiday with their congregation.

"Easter is a time that you celebrate with your church, and my church is here in Ann Arbor, not at home," RC sophomore Anna Vander Veen said.

Students "have really found a home here so they like to do the entire holy week celebration with their church family," St. Mary's campus minister Nikki Smith said.

Churches and synagogues who do expect a higher student turnout for the major holidays try to accommodate for the increased numbers.

"Most churches in the area try to make (Easter service) special. At Campus Chapel, we spend at least twice the amount of time preparing for Easter than for a regular service," Vander Veen said.