The first of my ongoing service projects is the Atlantic City Outreach with Stockton Christian Fellowship.  This usually occurs the second Saturday of every month, and usually about 20 of us participate to help the homeless and less fortunate.

The second Saturday of every month, Pastor Ray picks us up in the big tan van and takes us to his home, which is about five minutes off campus.  We form an assembly line to make a lunch of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a banana, cookies, and a water and put them into a paper bag.  Another group loads up socks and gloves, while another group makes hot food, which is usually a pasta dish of some sort.  After prayer and loading into the vans, we drive to Atlantic City and set up in a park. Those less fortunate than myself line up and get socks, a bagged lunch, hot food, and Bible literature if they prefer it.  For families with kids, we always try to give them a bit more, for children require a bit more care then adults do.  Once we are done giving stuff out, we always clean up the park and talk with the people for a little while before we leave.

While doing this project, I really connected with the people, for I recognize them as equal to myself.  There was even one man who sang and danced with us.  We all really had a great time connecting to the crowd and making their day a bit brighter.  While some would be really frightened to venture into Atlantic City and be with these people, but I am not.  I recognize them as people, and I will help them, for that is what humans should do.  Help one another.

J.R. Martinez, war veteran and a jack of all trades, spoke for free to any Stockton student who wanted to listen on February 16 in the PAC.  Winner of Dancing with the Stars and actor on All My Children, Martinez had come very far from his injuries in the Iraq War. This event was sponsored by the College’s First Year Experience, Office of Veteran Affairs and the Political Engagement Project.

When Martinez was just 19, he decided to go into the army to have free college after his term was done.  Then he was called to Iraq, and there his humvee hit a landmine.  The resulting explosion burned him and destroyed most of his face.  Ever since then, he has had many surgeries and fought through his ordeal.  He brought his story of recovery to many other recovering veterans, and then he began to act on All My Children.  Eventually he was called to do Dancing with the Stars and won.

Besides his difficulties in the war and what went on afterwards, Martinez spoke very lovingly of his mother and family.  Though he didn’t get to have the dream of football any longer, he became a stronger person after his ordeal.  Martinez also joked with the audience by throwing in little catch phrases like “Just sayin’ ” to give everyone a breather.

I thoroughly enjoyed this.  It did not even feel like 2 hours had gone by!  Because I am on the GI Bill, I got to hear of this before anyone else, and being able to see this man and hear his story really made a difference in my day.  I remember very clearly something he said. “Imagine this is $5 you are gonna save for later.  What I’m about to say may not have anything to do with what’s happening in your life now, but save if for later when you need it.”  I may need this some day.  And I am happy to have had the opportunity to hear this man speak.

On March 8^th I saw the movie Home presented by the Water Watch and Energy Saving group on campus.  The movie was amazing and eye opening.  The movie begins with how the world began.  Then the movie dives into the problems industrialization has caused to our Earth.  The movie hits on a wide variety of issues such as disforestation, soil degradation, and global warming.  It also talks about how we are causing ourselves to run out of fresh water, arable land, and all sorts of energy.  When the movie talks about the living conditions of cows used for meat, it made me consider trying to go vegetarian again.  Even though most of us know a little something about all of these issues, this movie hits you hard because it shows us the severity of the situation with a lot of facts to back it up.  Don’t fret though, because at the end the movie talks about how people are saving our planet right now, from re-planting the forests to using alternative energy.  Throughout the whole movie beautiful overhead views of a variety of landscapes of Earth are shows.  These images have amazing resolution and amazing beauty.  I think everyone should see this movie once Because we don’t have any time to be negative.  It’s up to us to write what happens next, together.

On March 8^th I attended Til Gay Do Us Part.  It was a gay marriage debate hosted by the Stockton Debate Team along with the College Democrats and the Pride Alliance.  The debate began with the host showing the audience facts from both sides about gay marriage.  Then the debate began between the two sides, which consisted of 2 students and a faulty member on either side.  It was an interesting debate but it wasn’t very fulfilling because most people on stage were for gay marriage, even the ones on the opposing side.  However, the opposing side did a good job of debating the opposite of what they believe, which is a sign of a good debater.  Then the floor was open to the audience to ask questions to the panel.  The audience too was mostly for gay marriage so all questions were directed to the opposing side, which was also technically for the same thing.  The audience ended up making up questions for the for gay marriage side just to add more perspective to the debate.  In the end I was glad with the outcome of the debate because it showed that most of our school is for gay marriage, which is a wonderful thing.  However I do know of people on campus that are against gay marriage, and it was sad that absolutely none of them were confident enough to come out and defend their side.

On March 1, 2012 I attended A Concert in Dance.  The show was in Stockton’s Performing Arts center and tickets were only 6 dollars for students.  The show had 10 dance numbers performed by groups, duets, and solo dancers.  My friend was in the last number which was titled Hot Jazz, which was a tap dance number.  The show was very enjoyable, which a wide variety of different music and dance styles.  Some dances were rather new age and extremely artsy, but it gave me a different way to look at dancing.  In on dance the dancers screamed along to the music and in another the danced to what sounded like pure static.  One dance called The (Fabulous) Filbert Family Photo portrayed a pillow fight and the dancers had pillows with them, that dance was funny!  My favorite dance was called Heed the Words which was a dance to a song based off an inspiration article called Wear Sunscreen.  The dance was beautiful and the song had such a wonderful message.  My friend’s dance was fun to watch too, taking the songs All That Jazz and Le Hot Jazz to make a large, exciting number full of singing and tapping.  Overall the show was a really good time and I would advise anyone to see it in the future.