Recent graduates and Executive Director at UC Davis’ Internship and Career Center, Marcie Kirk Holland, share their experiences 

By SABRINA FIGUEROA — features@theaggie.org

Graduation is one of the biggest events that will happen to a student in higher education. Being both relaxing and stressful, graduation is a double-bound finish line in which students feel the weight of coursework come off their shoulders, only for the weight of the “real world” to take its place.

Among students in the United States, about 87% agree that obtaining a bachelor’s degree or higher helps with acquiring a well-paying and stable career. However, an influx of recent Gen-Z graduates has taken to social media platforms, such as TikTok and X, to say that the act of acquiring said “stable career” is hard in 2023.

“I think it’s human nature to say something you don’t know how to do is hard. Students don’t know how to look for jobs, most of them have never done it,” Marcie Kirk Holland, executive director at UC Davis’ Internship and Career Center, said. “The way they have gotten their jobs in high school, or even their on-campus jobs, often is a little bit different than what they have to do going through looking for career positions. It’s brought with rejection. So yeah, that’s really hard.”

Rejection is difficult to go through, especially when you’ve just finished college and you don’t know that it’s normal. Fear of lack of experience adds to that frustration of rejection and the difficulty of finding a job. A LinkedIn analysis found that 35% of entry-level positions posted on their website required at least three years of experience.

Ibeth Ramos, a 2022 Sacramento State University alumnus with a degree in business and fashion merchandising, recalled her thoughts on the post-grad hiring process.

“I felt like maybe I would get rejected for some [positions] since I don’t have much experience in managing or anything besides retail,” Ramos said. “Anything that listed a lot of experience was frustrating because I always thought they would reject me.”

Future college graduates get anxious that they will have the same rate of rejection during that process due to inexperience.

“Having to get internships and experience for an actual job makes me a little more terrified than getting the actual job,” Karla Torres, a second-year health science major at Sacramento State, said. “I’m always like, ‘What if no [employer] wants me?’”

Students are heard when it comes to their fears of job rejection and inexperience, but they shouldn’t count themselves out yet. Holland explained that there are “transferable experience and skills” from regular customer service jobs, clubs and even coursework that can be put on resumes for employers to see.

“A job posting is a wishlist,” she stated. So if job-postings are posted on websites such as Handshake, the employers know that the target audience is going to be recent college graduates.

“The posting may say four years of experience is required,” Holland said, “but odds are high, most people applying will not have that.”

Ramos gave her advice on applying for positions that students may feel inexperienced for.

“Apply to as many jobs as you can even if you think you are not qualified,” Ramos said. “They might still give you a call back for an interview.”

It is also heavily encouraged to apply to jobs fairly early. Many think that you have to have the actual degree before you can apply to a job within your field of interest, but that isn’t true. In fact, it is encouraged that fourth-years in college start looking for a job before they graduate. Holland noted that this is because it can take several months for students to get a job offer.

“If you wait until after graduation, it might be that your lease is up in August, and you might have to move back in with people that you lived with in high school,” she said.

She noted that the new independence that college graduates may seek disappears if they have to go back to depending on their legal guardians.

At UC Davis, the Internship and Career Center urges students to leave their college experience with stable career positions by graduation. UC Davis human development alum Amena Mushtaq said she started looking for jobs right before graduation.

“The job I was looking for did not require a degree in my major, but it was highly preferred,” Mushtaq said.

On average, the amount of time it takes for students to get a job offer after they begin their search is about three to six months. At UC Davis, the average time frame is around six months, but varies quite a bit depending on the kind of networking and preparation the student does, such as attending career fairs at their schools.

Mushtaq shared her experience and said that she stayed confident in herself during the search process.

“I had experience in many areas related to the jobs,” Mushtaq said, “and knew it was all a learning process moving forward.” It only took her about one week to get her first job offer.

Ramos stated that it took her only a couple of weeks after her last semester at Sacramento State University began to get a job offer.

Karen Aguayo, a San Francisco State University alumnus with a degree in nursing further discussed this topic.

“I received a job offer three weeks after I passed my NCLEX licensing exam,” Aguayo said, “but it wasn’t until three months after that I received a job offer at my dream hospital and unit.”

The first job offers, though, don’t have to be accepted if the graduate doesn’t see the offer as sufficient. This can happen for a myriad of reasons, the main one being that recent graduates tend to reject job offers that have low salaries. A CNBC report showed that most students won’t take less than $72,000 and overestimate their expected salaries by $30,000. This overestimation can contribute to the difficulty level students perceive when acquiring and looking for a good career position.

“I’ll be honest, some people are unrealistic about what they’re going to make at an entry-level, but sometimes companies do try to undercut and don’t pay well,” Holland said. She explained that thinking through the offers — and even going to career advisors or family members for help — is an important step in the process.

Aguayo rejected her first offer due to the duration of the contract and the terms behind it, plus the incentive. She later elaborated that she received help from a family friend during the offer process, since she is a first-generation college graduate.

“I was frustrated because I felt like I had no one to fall back on at times,” Aguayo said.
“[…] Navigating everything on my own was new.”

Beginning career searches for positions is an overwhelming and difficult process, but that’s no secret. Although students can find themselves in pools of frustration and tears during this time, it’s not their fault and the feeling is mutual amongst many.

There are a plethora of resources for graduates to use much like the Internship and Career Centers at their selected schools, career fairs, family members and the use of networking through speakers, recruiters or internships.

Whether there is a long wait for the first job offer or students have to take a job that isn’t necessarily updated to the cost of living, the experiences of Ramos, Aguayo and Mushtaq show that there is still hope for students.

Written by: Sabrina Figueroa — features@theaggie.org

Volunteers continue operations of historic Food Not Bombs chapter in Davis 

By LAILA AZHAR — features@theaggie.org

Boxes of fruit salad, rice and split-pea stew stacked on a ledge in Central Park don’t exactly seem like the hallmarks of a terrorist group. But Food Not Bombs, the organization behind this food distribution program, has been called exactly that by some government officials

When Brian Fieganbaulm was arrested at an occupation attempt of the Seabrook Nuclear Power Station in 1980, his friends attempted to raise money to pay for his legal fees by holding bake sales. Protesting led to social services and an increasing military budget. They dressed up as generals, displayed a poster that read, “Wouldn’t it be a beautiful day if the schools had all the money they needed and the air force had to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber?” and told people they were raising money to do just that — buy a bomber.

While they didn’t make much money, they caught people’s attention. At their next demonstration, the group set up a fake soup kitchen outside of a bank stockholder’s meeting — insinuating that this bank’s policies resembled the banks that caused the Great Depression. Not wanting the food to go to waste, they communicated the nature of the protest to the local homeless community and were able to share food with over 70 people.

And thus, Food Not Bombs was born. The organization collects food that would otherwise have been discarded from local grocery stores, bakeries and produce markets and distributes it to members of the community. From their inception, political action — specifically anti-war action — has been central to the group. As their mission statement puts it, “When a billion people go hungry each day, how can we spend another dollar on war?”

This commitment to political action alongside food distribution is central to a distinction the group makes. “Even though we provide meals and groceries to thousands of people,” they clarified on their website, “we are not a charity.” Rather, Food Not Bombs is a mutual aid group.

Mutual aid groups operate under the idea that current systems of power aren’t doing enough to meet people’s basic needs and that communities should come together to support one another.

It is exactly this involvement in politics that has led to surveillance by the U.S. government. Food Not Bombs has protested cities’ bans on groups feeding more than 25 people at a time without a permit, stating that “food is a right, not a privilege,” earning them the title of “food terrorists” from Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.

The organization was included on an FBI counterterrorism official’s list of “​​groups that people intent on terrorism might associate with.” Their meetings have repeatedly been infiltrated by law enforcement officials; their houses have been raided, their ties to other activist groups investigated. Co-founder Keith McHenry claims to have been arrested nearly 100 times for work relating to Food Not Bombs.

This intense suppression is the direct result of the financial interests of the U.S. government, according to the organization.

“Military contractors are worried that we might influence the public to realize our taxes could be spent on human needs instead of war,” they said. “Since we will provide food wherever and whenever it is needed, this interferes with the government’s ability to use food for social control.”

Despite the intense backlash they’ve faced, today Food Not Bombs operates over 500 chapters, including one here in Davis. The Davis Food Not Bombs chapter has been serving free vegan meals to the community on and off since 1996. Currently, the group can be found in Central Park on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of every month.

As Josh Redman, a volunteer with the group, described the work: “We collect donations from local farms, the farmer’s market and the food co-op and then we get together and cook a vegan meal and come out and share it at the park.”

Groups like Food Not Bombs help target a pressing issue in Davis: food insecurity. Defined as “a lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to live an active, healthy life,” a study by UC Davis researchers found that 45% of undergraduates at UC Davis experience food insecurity.

“Food access and food insecurity are problems that can make or break a community,” first-year political science major Reena Panikar said. “Food Not Bombs gives people a crucial resource that they need.”

Staying true to the organization’s activist history, Davis Food Not Bombs has collaborated with clubs at UC Davis, such as Cops off Campus and Students for Reproductive Freedom. The group also works closely with other mutual aid organizations providing food to Davis residents. For example, the Davis Food Co-op, a community-owned grocery store, is one of the providers of food for Davis Food Not Bombs. Food Not Bombs has also provided food for the co-op’s “Freedge,” which is exactly what it sounds like: a fridge full of free food.

The spirit of community and solidarity are evident from the way Food Not Bombs volunteers talk about other mutual aid resources in Davis. “There’s lots of other food in town too,” Redman said, eagerly directing me to more resources. “The [Davis] Night Market is here Monday 9-11, there’s a whole bunch of things.”

Volunteering for a group that provides food to Davis can be a powerful way to help one’s community. As first-year international relations major Aminah Syed put it, “Volunteers are united by their passion for change and empathy for marginalized communities. It’s a perfect way to find like-minded people who are committed to the same causes as you.”

For students who want to get involved with Food Not Bombs, Redman said, “I would encourage people to come to a serving and meet people and talk there. There’s lot to do.”

Written by: Laila Azhar — features@theaggie.org

The passionate student-staffed operation gives back to UC Davis

By LYNN CHEN — features@theaggie.org

On campus, there is a wide selection of food trucks to visit as students. Whether you’re a loyal fan of Shah’s Halal or a curious customer of the Smoothie Operator, there will always be a business for you.

One truck that stands out from the rest is Aggie Eats, a service that aims to mitigate food insecurity among students.

From Monday to Friday, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., the Aggie Eats food truck distributes delicious, healthy meals to UC Davis students lining up for the program.

The operation runs on a pay-what-you-want pricing structure, so students can get the food for free or for a few bucks. Money that is paid goes right back to supporting the operation.

Meals that the food truck freshly serves include pork carnitas bowls with pinto beans and tortilla chips with pico de gallo salsa, chicken and potato bowls with broccoli and cheese as well as chicken tacos with papas con rajas and Spanish rice. Almost every day, the menu also offers vegan or vegetarian options for its meals.

Food insecurity at UC Davis is quite prevalent. In 2022, 42% of the student population reported having very low to low food security, according to the UC Undergraduate Experience Survey. 

“We have had some students […] that come to the truck tell us that they survive on only us [for food],” Sal Ramirez, food truck coordinator for Aggie Eats, said.

Food insecurity on campus has especially been exacerbated by rising prices from inflation. 

“The cost of food has gone up so much,” Ramirez said. “It makes it really hard for people of all age groups [to access proper nutrition].”

Ramirez added that these challenges are especially real for college students who are just beginning to learn to budget.

Additionally, food insecurity impacts the emotional well-being of a student. A person may feel shame over their circumstance or fear that there is a stigma associated with their food insecurity, even though the situation may have been uncontrollable in the first place.

Fortunately, Aggie Eats is focused on relieving the stress over this issue for students.

“It’s a safe spot when you come to the truck,” Ramirez said. “There ain’t no shame about it.”

“We all go through things and that’s okay,” he added. “Hopefully, we can brighten someone’s day and make it a little easier for them.”

At Aggie Eats, Ramirez is responsible for leading a team of student interns and Aggie Compass staff to make the food truck happen.

Even though the food truck operates for only four hours a day, a lot goes on behind the scenes to make sure the program runs smoothly during those hours. 

Meals that are served mainly come from the Segundo Commissary Kitchens. Every morning, the kitchen staff cook and prepare all the food to be distributed later in the day. Every meal item is then bagged or boxed in large, separate containers to be picked up by the food truck.

At the same time, the food truck itself needs to be prepped for the day as well. Every morning at 7 a.m., student interns go and pick up the food truck vehicle from the Unitrans center. They complete tasks such as filling up the water tank in the truck, loading the food onto the vehicle and checking fridge and meal temperatures on the truck.

During its operating hours, student interns and staff at the truck package and portion out the food to each customer. On average, Aggie Eats distributes around 500 meals a day.

At the end of the day, the truck’s team works together to clean and return the vehicle back to the Unitrans center.

A lot of thought also goes into deciding the menu for students, which Ramirez achieves in collaboration with the Student Housing and Dining Services.

For example, the menu items change every week and are seasonal to make the eating experience more enjoyable for students. In fact, the truck has been quite active on its social media accounts to gauge students’ opinions on what it has been serving.

“We kind of want to give people what they want,” Ramirez said. “You want to feel good about what you’re eating.”

Ramirez also needs to consider the capabilities and equipment available at the Commissary Kitchens to cook certain foods.

However, since the goal of the program is to make nutrition and food as accessible as it can be for students, Ramirez has been considering making trade-offs in the ingredients of the food.

“We might start steering away from more expensive cuts of protein, such as beef,” Ramirez said. “You might end up seeing more chicken on the menu.”

This decision comes back to the fact that it’s difficult to know and measure the varying individual levels of needs in students, so the program has been trying to scale up its overall impact to support everyone.

“We are just trying to meet a wide range of needs, and it is complicated to do so,” Ramirez stated. “Our variety might be cut down, but at the end of the day, we’re just trying to make the most impact on students.”

With a great cause and plenty of effort going into it, it is no surprise that the Aggie Eats food truck is popular among students.

“It’s a bright green truck roaming around campus, so it definitely does draw a lot of attention,” Marilou Vazquez, a second-year community and regional development and Chicana/Chicano studies double major as well as a student intern for the Aggie Eats food truck, joked. 

“But, I really think it’s a very popular thing because not only are our meals really good, we also serve a really good purpose,” Vazquez said.

Bianca Tomat, a third-year biotechnology and food science double major and student manager and social media chair for the food truck, added on to this statement. 

“We were kind of a victim of our own success,” she said. “We never really had to promote or market [the Aggie Eats food truck].”

Tomat has been part of the program since its inception on campus. 

“It was really fast growing and students knew about us really quick,” Tomat stated. “We were almost not prepared for this many students to just come to us.”

Furthermore, the program itself is powered by a tight-knit community of students and staff passionate about its cause.

“The whole food truck team is very close,” Vazquez said. “We have such a good relationship and environment in the workplace.”

“I take a lot of pride in our team, because I do believe that our team has this very awesome energy to it,” Ramirez said. “[The team] is very loving, it’s very playful. This is something that is very rare to see in any job. I think this is the thing I enjoy the most out of this experience.”

Ramirez hopes to nurture future leaders who can create work spaces where people can be happy, be themselves and learn the importance of interpersonal relationships.

“We’re doing something cool and everything [for UC Davis],” he said. “But it’s very, very important to me to try and make an impact on the students that work in our team.”

Written by: Lynn Chen — features@theaggie.org

UC Davis students and staff discuss options for students to become financially literate before entering the workforce

By ZOEY MORTAZAVI — features@theaggie.org

Throughout college, newfound financial freedom and responsibility hit the average student like a truck. Unexplored financial territory quickly plunges students neck-deep into student loans, bills, rent, taxes and plenty of other concepts that have been laid out since they were kids as “far off” or “adult” concepts. 

 The idea of the “broke college student” is a widely normalized concept, attached to stubborn stigmas announcing that college students have limited financial knowledge and can get themselves into trouble because of it. The question continues to present itself, asking whether anything can be done to begin taking some of these stigmas away. In other words, can college students beat the “financially illiterate” allegations? 

Alongside this question, many are beginning to advocate for financial education to not only be an option, but something that will eventually become mandatory for all college students. With many of these unprecedented concepts creeping up on them very quickly, many students at UC Davis have expressed concern for the lack of mandated financial education at the collegiate level. 

“If financial concepts are something we start to handle as young adults, it’s crazy that we aren’t taught more about them while we’re still young and in school,” Annaliese Dobbins, a first-year biochemistry major, said. “No one ever really explained how we’re just suddenly thrown into being an adult. It’s scary to feel like I don’t know how money works, and I want to change that. But with a major that has such a high unit count, I have a feeling I’ll struggle trying to fit a finance class into my schedule.” 

There are a handful of finance courses offered at UC Davis, many of which can be applied to different majors and general education credits. Many at UC Davis are beginning to promote and discuss the fact that if students can make room for finance classes in their schedules, they should. Utilizing resources like schedule planning and course advisement, students can do research to see whether they can make space for personal finance courses to help them better prepare for their futures. 

“Learning about personal finance early will definitely better prepare me for my financial life in the upcoming years,” Aditi Inamdar, a first-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, said. “As a student who is making the decision to change to the managerial economics major, taking some of these classes early on and learning finance will definitely help me grow within the business field.”

Professors working in economics at Davis aim to remind students that they should make time to learn about the nuances of the financial world so that it doesn’t creep up on them. Countless organizations and foundations work tirelessly to spread the message that college is a crucial time to become financially literate. 

The U.S. News and World Report wrote that in a survey of approximately 30,000 college students from across the nation — coverage of over 440 institutions — only 53% reported that they felt remotely prepared to handle their individual finances. 

“On the college side of things, we want to take whatever is taught in high school, if anything, and expand upon it,” Phil Schuman, president of the Higher Education Financial Wellness Alliance and executive director of financial wellness and education at Indiana University — Bloomington, said. “Really provide people a look at what post-college life could look like with what their financial situation may be based on their degree and based on how much student loan debt they may have.” 

Many groups, including recent efforts by nonprofits such as Next Gen Personal Finance,  have put efforts toward implementing more personal finance course options in the state of California, hopefully being fully mandated by 2029. However, it is a difficult thing to implement at a mandatory level for students. Despite the difficulty, there are many advocating for the eventual mandate of financial education courses for students — their advocacy argues that the payoff will be well worth it for students as they transition from college into their adult lives. 

“A good foundation in finance is essential in today’s volatile market,” Jens Hilscher, a UC Davis professor who teaches a principles of finance course, said. “Whether saving for retirement, saving for a down payment on a house, choosing financing options when purchasing a car or when making business decisions, a good foundation in finance helps guide your decision making.”

Hilscher and other professors working in economics at Davis are currently promoting the UC Investments Academy, a program that is free to all students that promotes careers in the financial and economic world. Interested students are offered countless opportunities and resources to enter the financial field, as well as gain exposure to many already working within it. 

There are a great deal of opportunities and resources available for students who are interested in learning more about their financial futures. Professors, both here at Davis and all across the country, would strongly recommend that students invest time in learning about one of the most crucial facets of their adult lives. 

Ultimately, the idea behind this advocacy is to remember that it’s never too early to start planning ahead and educating yourself about these concepts before they’ve caught up to you. 

Written by: Zoey Mortazavi — features@theaggie.org