College students are guaranteed only a few things during their experience. A hectic schedule, shortage of money, and excessive eating are just a few of those problems. It stuns me that the dining halls and Campus Recreation and Wellness Center at The University of Iowa area only open at certain times of the day. Personally, I do believe that the gym and at least one of the three dining halls on campus should remain open during all 24 hours of the day. Intangible benefits would exist by having the campus operate these places for all 24 hours a day.
First off, students tend to have a very hectic schedule. Consecutive classes within the typical lunch hour may not mean that students are able to sneak in some lunch before the dining hall closes at 2:30. Even worse, if the dining hall does not open for breakfast prior to the students first class, they may miss out on important nutrients needed to concentrate in class with. Starting the day on the wrong foot just because the dining hall for breakfast did not open before the first class is never something a college student should experience. When I started out college, I had to sacrifice getting breakfast on Tuesdays and Thursdays because I had an 8:00 AM class, and the dining halls did not open until 8:00. That was a leading cause as to why I would eat so much more food than I should've for lunch and dinner on those two days. I also felt as if I had a hard time focusing on my studies during that first class because I had no energy off of granola bars and whatever quick snacks I could find from my dorm room. It is just unfair to the minority of students who cannot get breakfast on a daily basis because they have their class obligations to fulfill. While finding time for dinner usually isn't a problem for most students, I do believe students should just be able to eat dinner whenever they want. If you ask me, Burge Residence Hall has the best dining hall on campus. But it always kills me that I have to wait until 5:00 just to get a bite to eat there. I can deal with Catlett Residence Dining Hall food, but the only thing that's better about that one is all-day breakfast. When I'm just getting work done and want a good bite to eat, I just think, "Why can't they just be open now? It's 4:30 and I just want some good food.
As far as the gym goes, I believe students possess a right to go work out whenever they desire. Yes, I am aware that the University of Iowa's Campus Recreation and Wellness Center is open from 5:30 AM until midnight on weekdays, and 7 AM until midnight on weekends. But on some days, I feel like I just want to go and work out at 3 AM, yet I have to wait another 2.5 hours until the gym opens. Yes, my residence hall does have a very small workout center with weight machines, treadmills, and a few other elliptical machines. But that is not enough for me. I want to go lift, swim, run the track or do workouts on the more complex machines only found in the gym. We are the ones who pay for the gym expenses in the student bill. So shouldn't we be able to just go work out whenever we want to? That is what I believe in.
It's not just the issue of giving students freedom to eat or work out whenever they want to. Some students could see benefits in finding extra hours to work. Nearly every college campus across the country employs their students to work in the dining halls and in the gym. By using the 24-hour schedule, students would be able to find more time for racking in extra dough, which some absolutely need. Money is very scarce as a college student, and schedules do not permit students to work normal hours. This would help the cause of students money crises since they would be given more opportunities to pick up extra shifts. If there is a shortage of people available to work during those hours, the dining hall and gym does not have to open all of its respective amenities. In fact, all a dining hall would need is someone to swipe cards. After that, students could get anything from the salad bar, waffle iron, ice cream machines, cereal bar, etc. It doesn't always have to be hot food at 1:00 in the morning. Cereal usually does the trick that late at night. With the gym, the only place other than the front desk in which workers are truly needed to work at are the pools and the snack bar. With a shortage of workers in the gym in the middle of the night, the pools and snack bar could just be closed while one or two workers swipes IDs at the front desk.
Bottom line is we are the ones who are using these meal plans and student gym passes, so shouldn't we be able to use them whenever we want? All in all, college students are adults and should have many new freedoms. Universities nationwide should enact this freedom and let the kids do what they want whenever they want.
