For
my first two years at Mason, I advocated for a hidden population on campus:
homeless college students. I had first heard of this population while working
with a local homeless shelter, and I have since grown a great passion to
provide the necessary support and resources for these students. My efforts on
campus led to the establishment of the Student Meal Assistance Fund, which
provides meal vouchers for students in need at Mason.
However,
a major question remained, how many students on campus were experiencing
homelessness and/or hunger while attending school? There seemed to be no data
available to answer that question. I decided to answer it myself! I teamed up
with Michael Galvin, Director of Technology Integration, to assess the
prevalence and nature of the homelessness and hunger at Mason. Michael had
previous experience researching this population; he was (and still is) the
perfect match. Together we went through the entire process of applying to the
grant, crafting a thorough IRB application, and designing a research that would
not only answer our main question but also guide us to establish a successful
model of support.
At
first, I was uncertain about the success of the research. I was unsure of the
number of participants that would come forth and be a part of our study.
However, time has only shown me that this population is extremely courageous
and is willing to speak about their experiences in order to assist others. The
most overwhelming part of the study is the amount of data and interviews we’re
collecting – and this is a great kind of
overwhelming! We’re meeting with
students on a weekly basis and conducting semi structured, confidential,
interviews. We are then transcribing these interviews and analyzing them using
SPSS. So far, we have been able to come up with major themes that allow us to
better understand these experiences. Financial struggles challenge student
success and well-being, especially their mental health. Homeless and hungry
students live in a constant state of anxiety, fear and uncertainty. Many of
these hardships occur mid-semester where little to no resources are available
for students to access; these circumstances arise typically after financial
assistance has already been allocated. This is a pattern that is overlayed over
other patterns of financial insecurity, lack of familial support, the constant
search for housing and food, and hiding their identities, all while trying to
be a student. Most students believe that a college degree will lead them out of
the cycles of hunger and homelessness and toward a home, employment and
personal stability.
We
hope that our conclusions will assist the University in administering an
effective and sustainable program that provides adequate resources to students
in need in order to ensure their academic success.
Finally, conducting undergraduate research has exposed me to
many opportunities to raise awareness and share my findings. In fact, recently I was able to give a talk
at a TEDx event that was hosted by George Mason University!
