Though I wrote in my previous blog about Stockton’s newly founded Food for Thought group in an attempt to garner awareness for the newly formed discussion group, I am writing this blog post as an update on the progress of this group as it has undergone major developments since my last blog post and seems a topic worth revisiting. While there are a lot of discussion based events that Stockton University offers to its students, Food For Thought is one of the few events that meet more than once, giving students multiple chances to enjoy the learning experience and broadening of viewpoints that it offers.

Food for Thought was founded by a Stockton University senior psychology major with the intent of garnering an understanding of student’s experiences with various aspects of the Stockton University experience while allowing students to benefit from this experience by having a chance to listen and learn from the viewpoints of students from differing backgrounds and origins. I reported in my previous blog post that I thought this organization had a great deal to contribute to the environment of Stockton University, as unlike many similar presentations it offers students the chance to talk to other students with different viewpoints. Unfortunately, the organization did not have many students taking advantage of this opportunity at its beginning, and I was worried the event would dissolve as a result.

Luckily, however, more students have taken an interest in Food for Thought since the last time I wrote, and the last two events were regularly attended by over 20 individuals. We spent the last meeting largely talking about how the town’s, schools, and backgrounds differed from the current environment that Stockton University offers to its students, and I learned a great deal from this experience. Compared to the small town I was born in I have always found Stockton University to be a diverse and accepting environment, though I have learned that in some instances that is not the case. One member present at the event who suffered from a physical disability and was wheelchair bound, explained that while Stockton did attempt to make accommodations for its students there were still many areas of campus that she has trouble accessing, and that it made her upset that she could never visit her friends in certain housing situations on campus due to the lack of elevators.

Another aspect the group ended up discussing in length was the extracurricular clubs on campus, specifically those with a cultural aspect. Many explained from experience their fear of trying to join a club that represented a culture in which they were interested in learning about but had not been born into. These students feared that because they were not a part of the club’s culture the other club members would never truly accept them, and therefore they would never be able to enjoy and learn from the club to the best of their ability. While this fear had kept many in attendance from joining these types of clubs, those that had overcome this fear and joined in spite of it felt that the cultural clubs on campus had in general been very inviting and accepting, often eager to educate others on their culture.

Food for Thought caused me to think in depth on a lot of issues I had not previously considered, and opened my mind to the opinion of others. It is an event I think others would largely benefit from, and hope that they will attend in the future.