It’s not that I starve myself purposefully. It’s that I starve for lack of better options.

Imagine you’re me — a poor 21-year-old freshman who works 30 hours a week and attends four classes in a row on Tuesdays and Thursdays. To further my education and relieve myself of the pressures of poverty, I currently attend Kent State.

As I spend two full days on campus, I’m starting to learn my way around much better than last semester. I notice delicious food service options on my way to class and, today, I even decided to try one out.

I stopped at Prentice Cafe where they made a delicious sandwich for me with sliced chicken, tomato, lettuce and a chipotle mayo I was dying to try. I grabbed some juice and headed for the register where I presented my debit card. The cashier said he could only take cash or a food plan. When I asked where the closest ATM was, he said it was at the Student Center.

I would’ve had to walk back to the Student Center, only to walk back (in the freezing cold!) just to pay the man! Instead, I decided I’d just ignore the hunger and skip the meal. This decision meant I would have to wait for three hours before I could eat again. Although I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, I had no other way to pay and I had to get to class.

Kent State has continually asked commuter students how they could improve our lives. Well, Kent State, for one, you could make it easier for us to eat when we’re here. Not all of us have parents who purchase food plans, nor have the option of putting what small amounts of money we have on a Flashcard. Not only money, but cash money! Who has cash? It’s 2008 — I don’t, nor do the five people surrounding me on the bus, have cash!

All I want is a fresh sandwich with chipotle mayo. Kent State, you are responsible for my tiny and malnourished girlish figure.

Robert Checkal is a freshman pre-journalism and mass communications major and guest columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].