Freshmen Angie DiNinni and Margo Kurtzke of Badin Hall are making poverty awareness a hall-bonding event.
The 15-day challenge involves doing one thing each day to better understand poverty, Kurtzke said. Twenty Badin residents began the challenge on Friday by giving up comfort and sleeping on the floor without pillows or blankets.
"I just wanted to get wrapped up in a blanket and crawl in my bed, but I couldn't," Kurtzke said.
DiNinni had the idea to do this challenge because she had previously done a 30-day version of the same thing.
"My cousins did this at their church, and then I did it with my family," DiNinni said.
Kurtzke decided to get involved when she heard DiNinni talk about the experience.
"We're roommates and I thought it sounded cool," Kurtzke said. "We decided to get Badin to do it."
On Saturday, participants performed three random acts of kindness.
"I was headed to the dining hall wearing shorts. It was cold outside, so Ashley, a girl doing the challenge, gave me her sweatpants," Kurtzke said. "It was really funny."
Other challenges include going without shoes, carrying a bucket of water around for the day and a 30-hour fast from food.
Many of the girls taking part of the program are not looking forward to the day without shoes, however, that is the day DiNinni and Kurtzke said they are looking forward to the most.
The challenge also includes a fast from options, which involves wearing the same clothes two days in a row.
"When I was in high school and did this, the fast from options was on a Friday and Saturday. I had to wear my school uniform skirt and polo on a Saturday, " DiNinni said. "Everyone kept asking me what I was wearing."
DiNinni said the challenge makes participants think about what it would be like to live in poverty.
"You think of people who live this way every time you're inconvenienced," she said.
The challenge is also a bonding experience for the participants, DiNinni said.
"When I did it with my family it was a bonding experience. The same thing is happening in Badin," she said.
