I recently attended a showing of the film Girl Rising on campus. It was a documentary about different girls around the world and the hardships they faced and overcame throughout their lives. One girl got herself a job cleaning public toilets at a very young age to help her family financially. These were not the kind of luxurious public bathrooms we enjoy everyday here at Stockton, but instead disgusting hole in the floor bathrooms where nobody seemed to have good aim. She did this every single day throughout her childhood and teenage years. It was better than her other option, which was to sell her body to the neighborhood miners like the other girl’s in her community did to get by.

The movie opened up my eyes to the vast majority of struggles women face throughout the world. Most of the women in this movie had somebody there to support them. A male figure like a brother or a father who wanted better for them than society had to offer. That, however, is not the usual way things are. Most girls do not have that figure in their life. With nobody there for them, they do as society tells them to.

It brought up the issue of education. Public education is not available to the entire world, and without it thinks like this are possible for not only girls but all children. Even in certain countries where public education is available it is so poor that most students do not make it through the elementary grades without dropping out. I immediately felt grateful for the education I was able to obtain as an American. Sure, improvements can be made on our education system, but without it I would not be here. All those days I complained about having to go to school seemed like a blessing after the things I witnessed in this film.

Yesterday, as part of an RHA meeting we went to a new program on campus called “Let’s Talk About Stockton.” As with most programs, there was free food, and it was very yummy. The pita chips and hummus were my favorite. However, the campus food services (Chartwells) is the only thing I really wanted to talk about. After working at Lakeside at the beginning of the year I became disgusted and infuriated with this company. I worked in a cramped little Mondos stand area, with food dating back to my grandparent’s birth. At times, the tomatoes were so soggy I could not even pick them up with my hands. The tiny quarters always seemed to be home to at least 4 flies that not only enjoyed landing on the food, but biting at my arms and ankles as well. Stockton can do better. We can do better.

With a few friends I ventured over to the table hosting representatives from Chartwells. I sigh of relief came over me when I realized that none of them were my previous employers. There was a new guy. He had only been here a couple of weeks, and was previously employed at Cornell University. He had some great ideas to improve the food on campus, and was eager to hear all of our concerns. But who isn’t at these sorts of things? I told him about what I experienced at Lakeside, what my friend with a gluten allergy experiences every day, and what bothers the student body as a whole about the campus food. I made it clear that if things do not change next year when I am no longer required to I will not be purchasing a meal plan, and that I feel many other students will be doing the same.

The man listened patiently to all of our concerns and addressed each one of them individually. He said he would personally look into what is going on at Lakeside and make sure things are taken care of and the food is rotated properly. He said that he is currently working on a project called “My Place” for people with gluten free diets. Everything that is gluten free will be put out on a completely separate table and all gluten free utensils will be marked with green handles so that there will be no reason to ever worry about what is available, what is marked, or what has been cross contaminated with gluten products. He said we should see it within the next few weeks. He also said quite directly that there is nothing he can do about Dunkin Donuts not accepting gift cards or any game promotions won on cups. In order to change that I would have to speak to another man who lives somewhere in the area. Lastly he said that the food court’s twenty cent charge for water is the charge for the expense of a cup. I’ve worked in a restaurant before, those cups do not cost anywhere near twenty cents each. But if that’s there policy there is almost nothing that can be done about it. However, if you feel it is wrong to be charged for water like I do, you can bring a water bottle or your own reusable cup and fill it up at the food court and you will not be charged. If somebody tries to charge you for it, ask to speak to a manager.

The conversation seemed to go on for a long time. We spoke of maybe starting a fresh Mexican food place on campus, something similar to a Chipotle. He also said he wanted to see more Asian cuisine mixed into the menu. I do not know how productive this meeting really was, and I don’t know if any changes are actually going to be made, but at least now the company has been made aware of the concerns of many students here on campus. I hope to see improvements in the future.

One of the first events I attended here at Stockton was there annual day of service. Honestly, I almost did not go because of how early in the morning it was. I struggled to get myself out of bed, but I had been registered for weeks now and was so excited about it just the night before. The free breakfast, coffee, and t-shirts after registration definitely made me feel so much better. Just a side note: the little apple muffins with the crumbs on top that they have whenever they give away breakfast for an event, are so delicious that I actually wrote them down on the “pros” side of my pro-con list when picking a college. I had five that morning. By the time I was awake to function most of the tables were filled and people had already selected their activities. Colleen and I found a spot together working for the A-heart organization.

A-Heart is a small place that offers help and support for mothers with financial troubles. The people who worked there were very nice and helpful. It always amazes me when a person can stay positive despite the awful things they see each day. We volunteered to help organize their thrift shop. I was very excited about this, because I had spent a summer volunteering at a church thrift shop, so I thought the previous experience would help. The tiny little store was extraordinarily unorganized, and the lack of space didn’t help. We removed a lot of summer clothes to hang up fall clothing. The goal was to make the place look as nice and as organized as possible. We wanted the mothers shopping for their children there to feel like they were in a real store. Box after box were brought down to us from the storage room, and after hours of work we had found a place for every article of clothing, and organized it all by item and size. It looked amazing when we were finished, and I could not have been more proud.

I hope our work helps A-heart. They do an amazing thing, and I was happy to contribute to the work they do each day.