Fehintola Elizabeth Bright-Awonuga is pursuing a
Bachelor of Arts in Health Administration and Public Policy on the Health
Policy Track with a minor in Africana Studies. She has been serving on
Retriever Essentials Student Leadership Board since September 2019 and
volunteering for the Retriever Essentials for two years, since September 2018.
Through the University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s
Shriver Center’s Living Learning Community - the Shriver LLC - where our main
focus is community service, I became a Retriever Essentials Ambassador
Volunteer, so far, for two years. Additionally, I am a second-year peer mentor
and am on the Retriever Essentials Student Leadership Board. I collect and
inventory donations and pack and deliver donation bags to Food Zones around
campus. I act as a liaison that fosters communication between the students,
faculty, and staff members who benefit from our organization and my director,
maintain our social media pages, and help with tabling events promoting
awareness of our organization and food insecurity on college campuses.
Coming into this applied experience, last school year,
I thought that it would only be in the position to do standard tasks. I didn’t
expect to inwardly and outwardly reflect on my experience and apply to my
everyday life. However, I did. And for that I am grateful. As a part of my
reflection, I allowed myself to “step into someone else's shoes” to truly
understand how I could use my position to positively impact them. I’ve also
gained leadership, organizational, intercultural understanding, social
awareness, career management, and digital technology skills.
I learned that there are other support systems on
campus that offer emotional, physical, mental, and academic support to
students. Additionally, I learned that behind-the-scenes work is as valid as
on-the-field work. For example, working in the actual food pantry is just as
valuable as working at tabling events in which on talks to students because
everything creates an interconnected system of impactfulness.
Most shockingly, I came to the realization that if
Retriever Essentials didn’t exist the faculty, staff, and students that we
serve wouldn’t have this support system. In turn, this can result in poor
performance, academically, socially, emotionally, mentally, and physically, and
can eventually put this “at risk group” at risk of dropping out of college.
“About half of students who started college do not finish,” said President
Freeman Hrabowski in his 2018 Convocation Address. Food insecurity is a
significant determining factor. For example, in the article Food Insecurities….
Community College Students it states that in a study, “8% of community college
students with food insecurity planned to drop out entirely.” Why? Students who
are food insecure “have poorer physical health, symptoms of depression and
psychological stress”, says Colleges…. Feed Homeless Students article.
On a lighter note, my most memorable part of
volunteering with Retriever Essentials over these past years was when we
recently moved into our new pantry (located at Sherman 205). It was amazing.
All of the volunteers came to move food items, boxes, clothes, toiletries,
shelves, and etc. We moved from a big office space to a small closet space and
now have upgraded to a classroom space. In the near future, we will be moving
into an even bigger space on campus. I’ve seen the growth we’ve made as a
program. I have had the privilege to experience this growth. From the triumphs
to the tribulations and to the successes and struggles, we’ve persevered
because we have a zeal to serve our community. I would tell young people, “only
a life lived in the service to others is worth living.” There’s so much to gain
from volunteering. It shouldn’t be seen as a chore but an opportunity to create
change by pursuing the service they’re most passionate about and giving it
their all.
At UMBC, and many other campuses, food insecurity is
an issue that is unintentionally overlooked by many in the community, including
us, the students. Luckily, we “have the opportunity to make a difference in the
world”, once said President Freeman Hrabowski. I do not regret my decision of
joining this team because I have seen first-hand the seed this organization has
sown. The seed is continuing to sprout, grow, and blossom into something bigger
than it once was. I have the privilege of impacting this growth. I hope one day
you can too.
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