Now that the spring break approaches, many students have started to make plans about their vacations and travel destinations for the week long break from classes. But this is not the case for the first-generation and low income University of Pennsylvania students. In fact, this week without classes is even a reason behind their concern and worries.
One of the major reasons for anxiety is the closed dining halls. Many colleges and universities' dining halls will not be available, and according to the Daily Trojan, the students who cannot afford to travel and leave campus will have to buy their own food from the local restaurants and groceries. They may have difficulty in finding the cheapest options because a lot of them rely on their meal plans.
But according to the Daily Pennsylvanian, Albert M. Greenfield Intercultural Center will have a pantry for these FGLI (first-generation low-income) students.
However, while the pantry system can do a lot of help to these students, there are other things that concern these low-income students. One of them is their lack of resources to travel or at the very least, join in the special spring break programs and activities.
A college freshman Daniel Gonzalez says that there are still some problems with these programs because they do not offer financial aid, and that means that students from lower income backgrounds will still not be able to participate. But he said that he does not feel isolated as he has found a strong community of students who are just like him, staying in the campus over the spring break.
Some students have raised issues on how their schools are not able to recognize that not all students can actually afford interesting activities and opportunities that they are being offered.
