Every once in a while, you meet someone who devotes their time to helping the lives of people they don’t know and probably will never meet. The College of New Jersey senior, Stephanie Cervino does exactly that. This Biology and Women and Gender Studies double major has spent four years at TCNJ learning more about women’s issues around the world. She works every day to make change through her academic studies and student organizations.
Cervino is a part of the WILL (Women in Learning and Leadership) program at TCNJ. She was drawn to the program for “the chance to work with like-minded women and explore gender issues in an academic setting.”
Cervino’s selflessness in helping women around the world has been sparked by her involvement in WILL over the past four years. WILL is a large network of women, learning to become stronger leaders, overcoming adversity and giving back to the community. It is because of Cervino’s WILL mentor, Casey, that she became involved in the reproductive rights movement.
In addition to being an active member of WILL, Cervino is President of Vox (Voices for Planned Parenthood) and works on- and off- campus as a Global Youth Advocacy Fellow with Planned Parenthood.
Cervino plans to continue her volunteer work with women’s advocacy organizations after graduation this spring before applying to Public Health programs to continue her studies.
On April 9, 2014, Cervino and other members of Vox hosted Menses for the Masses in the Student Center, encouraging TCNJ students to learn more about girls lack of access to sanitary supplies around the world. Participating TCNJ students also learned about the many repercussions this lack has on girls.
“Girls around the world lack of access to sanitary supplies, and as a result miss up to two months of school and work each year. Menses for the Masses is an event that seeks to provide these girls with supplies they need to leave their homes without fear of stigma or shame. We do this by making reusable fabric menstrual pads and partnering with the organization Days for Girls to distribute the pads to girls in other countries,” says Cervino.
After a full day of cutting fabric and sewing, the group completed nine pads and made cutouts to put together 22 more. Above all, Cervino hopes that the group “raised awareness about the importance of global girls’ access to sanitary supplies while showing college students what they can do to help.”
Cervino expresses the importance of college students supporting women’s issues through her work. She says, “in a college environment, there are more opportunities for people to form personal connections to what may seem like an abstract topic by sharing stories, exchanging ideas and reflecting on what they have learned from others.”
According to Cervino, “it becomes easier to see the relevance of women’s issues when you hear about a floormate’s experience of being harassed on the street or about a friend being subjected to gender discrimination in the work place.”
Working on Menses for the Masses, Cervino shows TCNJ students that every bit of volunteer and advocacy work that can be done for women’s issues is a great help. We wish her luck as she moves on to continue her work in women’s issues and studying public health!
Watch Stephanie Cervino as a Global Youth Advocacy Fellow with Planned Parenthod here!