Blogging Project
The freshmen students of the Stockton Honors Program saw their fair share of icebreaker activities and Irish dancing on July 10th at the Stockton Overnight Experience hosted by the Honors Program. The event was an overnight stay focused on putting the Honors students in an environment that would help them to develop friendly relationships with fellow students and gain a comfortable understanding of the campus. Such interactions included volleyball, icebreaker activities, murder mystery scenarios, Irish dancing, and most notably a sleep over. By putting students in the unfamiliar territory of not knowing the people around them, they became more inclined to socialize and familiarize themselves with the other members of the program. This was particularly evident during Irish dancing where students were organized into groups and expected to learn the dance steps in sometimes very intimate situations such as holding hands or dancing with a partner of the opposite sex. As the level of difficulty for each dance increased, so did the level of interaction between partners, and by the end of the session, students were spinning, ducking, and twirling around the room.
After dancing, the next group activities were icebreakers, such as push up contests, animal impressions, and human shape configurations. Meant to be fun and silly, these activities were designed to make students interact in a more comical manner than the dancing.
Personally, I had arrived at the Stockton campus at 9am and felt reasonably uncomfortable because I didn’t know anyone, but as I participated in the dancing and other activities, I began to meet new people. In addition to making friends, the various activities located throughout the campus gave me a sense of direction. I started understanding the names and locations of certain buildings around the school and the overwhelming feeling of being on a college campus went away. When it came time for parents to leave, this new found feeling of comfort and trust made it easier for me to accept the Stockton campus as my new home and to feel comfortable sleeping overnight. Contrary to my original belief, sleeping at school was the most exciting part of the experience and it was while in my room that I felt most at ease because as I introduced myself to my roommate and we quickly found things in common. Through a developing conversation I learned that he lived about 5 minutes away from me off campus and that he planned to commute to school just as I was doing. I also learned that he felt the same way I did about the activities, that they were sometimes awkward but ultimately served a positive social purpose; giving us a real look at the camaraderie in college living and a positive outlook on our futures as Ospreys. The day as a whole was a success because if it weren’t for the Honors Experience, I would not feel the sense of belonging to the college and the Honors Program that I do now. However I will admit that I prefer never to get involved in another icebreaker activity in my life because I’ve had enough to last a lifetime; hopefully my college memories will last the same. If it weren’t for the Honors Experience, I would not feel the sense of belonging to Stockton and the Honors Program.