Excited. Anxious. Confused. Happy. This would have been the first time I ever had all these feelings at one time. Probably a bunch of you also felt the same way. Being incoming freshmen, college is a big-step filled with fun, choices and many mistakes. To many, it is a tremendous transition. At Stockton, there is a solution to ease the worries and anxieties – The Stockton Honors Overnight Experience. This exclusive event is only held for the honor students to give them a taste of college and all that it has to offer.
From Irish dancing to a whole bunch of icebreakers, I can definitely say that making friends was not even close to being a problem. The friends I made at the Honors Overnight are my closest friends now. In fact, I was even able to meet my roommate and get to know him better. This made the first days at Stockton a whole lot easier when I knew people beforehand. There were activities the whole day and I must say there was never a dull moment. One of the highlights of the day was volleyball. From Momina spiking the ball to everyone’s epic fails, if you weren’t friends with everyone before, you probably are now. You really get to know people from these activities.
However, not only did we have a great time, we got to learn more about the various places around campus that are meant to help you! For instance, we got to hear about the Wellness Center from Bob Ross, what the honors program is really about from Lisa Rosner, and service learning from Daniel Tome. From this, I really got a chance to obtain more information about Stockton and the help that it offers whenever I need it. The biggest advantage of the Honors Overnight would have been planning your schedule for classes. I got a whole bunch of advice and recommendations on interesting classes and scheduling the times correctly. This extra time made orientation a lot less overwhelming when you already had everything planned out. By the time I finished the Murder Mystery (last event of the night), I was completely exhausted. We got to sleep in our air conditioned dorms. Sleeping in these dorms gives you a picture of what it will be like the next four years of your life. In fact, by the time you move in, you will know where everything goes.
All in all, I just want to say that this is one of the best experiences and you shouldn’t miss it for anything! The Honors Overnight really gets you hyped up for Stockton in the fall and after it all, you will be counting the days before school starts.
Horace Leung