I was driving home from work the other week, cruising down the Great Western Highway debating what I should cook for dinner when something on the radio made me gasp and forget all about my dinner dilemma. (It was either packet made macaroni cheese or a stir fry with slightly rotting vegies. The stir fry won.) You see, some poor uni student confessed that he hadn’t eaten in 5 days.
This malnourished student was not on a hunger strike. Nor did he suffer from anorexia nervosa. The reason for starving for 5 days was simply because he had no money to buy food, and his pride was obviously bigger than his stomach.
I was listening to the Triple J 5:30 report (known as HACK) where they interview and report on a particular current issue either in Australia, or around the globe. This particular topic was in response to the Australian Vice Chancellors Committee report, where they interviewed around 19 000 students and concluded that uni students are struggling more than they have previously. The report discovered that more and more students are skipping lectures/tutorials in order to work more hours in order to…well, live. http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hack/notes/s1870260.htm
The average amount of hours a uni student works per week is 15, and if you are doing a course which is 5 days a week, those 15 hours are bound to put a strangle hold on social/recreational/study time……and uni is supposed to be the ‘time of your life.’
But getting back to this non eating for 5 days thing. It seems a bit outrageous to me. I briefly mentioned it to a physio student (Mr JC) who was living in the Blue Mountains nursing quarters when he amazed me by saying, ‘yeah, that’s happened to me before.’ Mr. JC moved out of home when he was 17 and has fended for himself ever since. He said there were times when one diaster happened after another and he always found a way to deal with it by himself.
Despite me living with the parents during uni, I appreciated the fact that living out of home and doing uni was a bit of a struggle. I understood the appeal of 2 minute noodles, $5 Thai for lunch and the free coffees generously ‘shouted' by the working people. But I suppose I was a bit naïve when it comes to the extent of the struggle some uni students face.
Uni is not supposed to promote malnutrition. So if you are finding that you are falling into this category, and are not too much of a hero to ask for help, then go to the financial services desk and get help. They can provide you with interest free loans, subsidies, bursaries, advice or counselling: http://www.usyd.edu.au/stuserv/
And, how luxurious to be able to choose what I want to eat…………