On Friday, Feb. 12, York freshmen enrolled in World Studies participated in the Annual Oxfam Hunger Banquet.

This event kicked off the World Studies Human Rights unit, but also ended up being an eye-opening experience that exposed freshmen to the realities of the world that they may not see in normal life.

“The whole thing was very moving, especially since I was in the lowest income group and imagining living off such small rations for a large family seems insane,” said freshman Maddy Small. “The pictures on the screen were also very emotional as there are so many kids going hungry every day.”

Small seriously took the experience to heart, “ [The simulation] made me more aware of the amounts of food I’m wasting and how much I take for granted.”

While some freshmen were aware of the hunger problems in our world, the situation made it much more real for others.

“I was always aware that there are children starving in the world due to circumstances they can’t control and the activity really put it into perspective,” said freshmen Gillian O’Hara. “I became aware of how bad they must have it.” 

The experience that the students took out of this simulation is powerful, but what is even more powerful is the fact that student’s recognize that they can do small things to make a big change in the world.

“I think that we can do little things like donating to certain charities and organizations like Oxfam because they do work like feeding the hungry,” said O’Hara.

Students learned many life lessons through this experience and are considering on making a change; they are also taking this new unit about human rights very seriously.  It will be interesting to see if students will take what they have learned and apply it to their human rights unit– and most importantly –their lives.