On April 8, 2013, the Honors: Global Community class was lucky enough to sit in on another lecture from an esteemed speaker. Instead of ecocriticism, this lecture focused on a different, yet somewhat similar topic. Christine Brady, a engineering graduate from Princeton joined us in class to talk about a truly inspiring project that she has given life to.

Christine Brady founded the Americas Foundation, an organization that aims to give aid to disadvantaged yet remarkably talented children. This program assists children who come from poor families and communities, and attempts to help them realize their real potential. Christine formed this organization after going to Tijuana, Mexico and seeing the devastating poverty in the area.

Tijuana is located in West Mexico, and is directly on the border of San Diego, California. It is often known as the city of children, since 75% of the population is under the age of 25. 80% of the population live below the poverty line, and it is in competition for having the lowest wages in the world.

The most amazing part of Christine Brady’s lecture was the hope –  La Esperanza – that she has given the community. She has built an incredible elementary school and is in the process of building a high school and chapel for children that are on either full scholarship or partial scholarship. She showed us pictures of school plays and dance recitals that the children have done and it showed how absolutely appreciated her work is to the children and parents. I was very glad she came in to speak with us, and I would love to try and help with the project any way that I can!

I’ve been lucky enough to be working in the Stockton Grant’s office since October of last semester. It’s been a great learning experience in an even greater environment! My job consists of mostly mundane office jobs such as scanning, filing, delivering/retrieving documents and organizing. However, once a year the Grants office is in charge of a huge research presentation called the Day of Scholarship.

The Day of Scholarship is a day where professors and student present their hard work and research that have been funded for more support through Grants. It’s a really big deal, in my opinion, to be awarded support through the college to continue research! The day consisted of a breakfast and speech from the President, then poster presentations in the event room, then presentations across campus, a very nice lunch in the board of trustees room, and more presentation in the afternoon. The day lasted from 8:30am-4:30pm, and as I volunteered the entire time, I was able to experience the entirety of the work the women at grants put into the day. It was a lot of work not only by the presenters, but also by the conductors of the actual event.

I really enjoyed volunteering at the Day of Scholarship, and I plan on attending and possibly even presenting at the event in years to come! It’s a great privilege to have your research supported by the college, and a greater experience to be able to present that research to the ones that helped you get there!

Last month, I was able to go to a very interesting lecture during my Honors:Global Community class. At first, I was mostly excited to go because it meant a different setting for class – a whole class period not taking place in the same enclosed classroom. After the lecture however, I was intrigued by the whole topic.

The topic of the lecture was ecocriticism. Ecocriticism is the critical approach that considers the relations between literature and the environment. Basically, it deals with any literature that uses nature. I’ve loved to write since I was very young, and I still dream about being an author one day. Nature is something I’ve always loved as well and Earth Day was always my favorite holiday! To combine two of my favorite things, it would be a great feat if I wasn’t immediately hooked.

I remember learning about the transcendentalists in 11th grade, and I remember wondering why we didn’t spend longer on the topic since Emerson was so enchanting in his language. They way that Emerson and Thoreau spoke in their own experiences with the beauty of nature was so interesting. Ecocriticism is so much like transcendentalism, however ecocriticism is defined as the revaluation of the latter.

Eco Critics attempt to read texts with attention to the presence of natural elements- not as symbolic projections of the human psyche. In other words, ecocritics want to create more awareness of nature, instead of just using nature as metaphors and similes. They attempt to connect everything and everyone to nature.

Although we went to the lecture for Global Community, I felt as though I came back from the lecture a lot more informed than I thought I would be. I’m genuinely interested in ecocriticism now! I’m not sure if I would go into a career related to it, however it would be a great past time or research area! I’m really glad I went.

Clubs are always a fun way to do new things, embrace new hobbies, and make new friends and one of the newest additions to the club mix here at Stockton is the Richard Stockton College Model United Nations! Model UN is often offered as an extracurricular at many high schools and colleges across the nation and much like the official UN, model UN focuses on learning and living the cultures and views of other countries when debating issues at conferences.

For these conferences, each model UN is assigned a country to represent. They are then put to the task of researching all they can on that country’s view on several topics. This research will be presented as arguments at conferences, where the team will represent not their own opinions, but the opinions of their assigned country. However, model UN doesn’t solely focus on just debating and public speaking, it also brings in new knowledge of different cultures, lifestyles, and world matters from perspectives much different from those here in the United States.

Like other Model UNs across the nation, the Richard Stockton Model UN, will be participating in a few conferences. The first conference we will be participating in will take place in Washington, D.C. next fall in October. In addition to D.C., possible conferences the Model UN hopes to join take place in NYC and the Galapagos Islands!

Although you might think that Model UN is just another new club, it’s also an exciting experience with new cultures and lifestyles on a professional stage. Not only is the Model UN stage great for working on public speaking and debating, it also is a great opportunity if you’re interested in international affairs, new cultures, and traveling!

I’m really excited to be joining this club, even thought the conferences won’t start until next semester. Being apart of something from the very beginning is also a great plus! I’m glad I stopped by the table during the Get Involved Fair!

On February 22, 2013, the second ever Stockton Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Induction took place. The Induction was held in the Campus Center Event room, and was equipped with delicious food and dessert for the many inductees.

Alpha Lambda Delta is a national honors program for freshmen with high GPAs  and academic standing and has accepted more than 100 students at Stockton since 2012. It was a great honor being one of the members inducted this semester!

The induction itself was great, starting off with the eboard introductions and speeches and followed by a performance by the Stockton Acapella group. The oath and certificate pick-ups then took place, as we were free to get food.  Although the induction itself was great, one of my favorite parts of being inducted was being able to see more of my friends. Because I don’t live on campus, I know I often miss out on seeing friends from classes and activities, however I was able to catch-up and talk with friends I hadn’t seen since the fall semester!

Overall, the induction was fun, simple, and great. I was very happy to be welcomed into a program such as ALD, and will be looking forward to planned events in the future!

Since this is my last of 15 blogs I am going to tell you about what is going on next semester and the rest of my college life. So this past semester, it sounds so weird to say that, I have completed a lot of great achievements. First I was the treasurer for RHA. I had a lot of fun working with them on Building Battles, creating Game Nights, and hosting events like the Roommate Social. As treasurer I oversaw the budget and learned how to manage money and advise other people on how to spend their money. The next achievement I made was that I was elected Honors co-Director of Events. As Honors co-Director of events I organized the honors events with my counterpart. I ran events like Pizza and Pong and the Honors BBQ which is happening in this upcoming week. I learned here how to plan events and work with another person in the same position to be able to collaborate and exchange ideas about how to make the honors events more fun. Those were some of my biggest achievements and learning experience this last semester, but next semester I am looking forward to other great things. First over the summer I will be an Orientation Leader and a T.A.L.O.N. As an Orientation Leader I will be living here for a month over the summer helping the freshman learn about the campus and register for classes. As a T.A.L.O.N. I will move in early and go on the S.O.A.R. trip as well as facilitate Welcome Week Activities.  When the semester begins, however, I will no longer be treasurer for RHA as I am picking up a position as a Late Night Vice Chair for the S.E.T. team. I also will be a CARE peer mentor which is a volunteer position where I will be meeting with college students who are at risk of being kicked out of college. I will be meeting with them once a week to discuss their goals and how they can achieve their goals. I will be keeping my position as the Honors co-Director of Events and will continue to work diligently on the honors events. My school work will be harder next semester, but I am willing to put the effort forth to complete my goals and to get what I want out of college. Well I guess this is goodbye to whoever is reading. I hope that you have as fun as I did this year and will learn as much as I did too.

So this may not be your typical blog entry because it is not an event that happened on campus, but it is about college life in general. Last night my friends and I went driving around the area and we came across some pretty cool places. Our first stop was at an abandoned warehouse. We got out and walked around seeing the field in the back and trying to decide what used to be there. The next stop was a baseball and street hockey court that we want to come back to soon to play. There were two street hockey courts complete with nets and boxes for teams. There was a little league field, a high school field, and even a batting cage for those who have a machine to work with. It was a cute little field and we are willing to come back soon to see a game. The last stop we made, besides a wawa run, was a playground. Even as college students, we are never too old to visit a playground. We ran around in the dark trying to hide from each other and play jailbreak. There was a rock wall dome where you could slip inside between two bars or in a cutout hole. I got in through the bars, but tried to get out through the hole…I got stuck when I tried to fit my hips through. It was so much fun just fooling around like we were little again. In the end we ended up just looking up at the moon admiring the fact that we could see so many stars. That was all in one night. Other times we have driven down toward Atlantic City down the white horse pike, but before we got through the toll we turned around. There was an abandoned gas station on the side of the road that we parked at and we just spent our time looking out at the skyline. It was beautiful to see the skyline and to just enjoy the night. Other adventures we have taken include driving down to ocean city to go to the beach, driving down to my friend’s campground in new Gretna (if you don’t have a campground you can just drive down and around there just to see the trees and enjoy the night air), going to the Atlantic City Skate Zone to go ice skating, and so much more. All together I loved being here on campus and in this general area. I am excited for all the adventures that we will get into next semester as well.

SET team. Well, I am on the SET team here at Stockton and I absolutely love it! This past year I was just a general member, but I still got to help out with some of the events, got to attend any one I wanted, and had a lot of fun. Some of the events I helped out with were the homecoming float, the haunted walk, and planning for La La No Booza. For the homecoming parade each year a bunch of clubs decorate a golf cart with a specific theme. This year our theme was paradise. As a part of the special events committee which oversaw anything that happened during homecoming. When we were presented a theme everyone in our committee began brainstorming ideas of what we could put on this float and I designed the actual float. I drew up a diagram and it ended up being enacted! After this I became more confident and started helping out more often. The haunted walk was around Halloween before the hurricane when people would walk down dark path while others were trying to pop out and scare them while they were walking. Ultimately the group of walkers would end up at the Campus Center where there were different stations set up. Edible had a station and there was free food etc. My station was face painting. Since I had worked as a face painter previously, I volunteered to do it there as well and it was super fun. Anyone who came to my station walked away happy and I had a lot of fun seeing people’s reactions. This just goes to show you that even college kids can enjoy face painting. The rest of the semester was full of events that I have already written about and more including taco Tuesday, comedian Jay Black, Cupcake Wars etc. Next year, I am actually on the late night committee and will be in charge of anything happening from 8 to 10 at night. As a co-vice chair I am so excited to be getting more involved here at Stockton and I encourage anyone reading this to do the same. My passion turned out to be the SET team, but maybe yours is different. I suggest finding what you like on campus your first year and then pursuing a leadership role in that club. That way you get to do what you like and get to further your development as a leader and a student.

            This afternoon, my roommate and I visited the Celebration of Service outside of the library in the F Wing atrium. In the weeks leading up to this event, I had received numerous emails advertising the day and encouraging students to participate by setting up a table to present their community service projects to their peers and professors. Upon entering the exhibition area, my roommate and I were surprised to notice how few students had chosen to partake in the day’s festivities, and we could actually count the number of tables on our fingers.

            We first stopped at the Water Watch table to speak to a student who had organized various beach cleanup projects in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. She informed us that there would another beach sweep on Saturday morning, and encouraged us to attend. We admired some of the decorative boards, and picked up a few pamphlets from a table advocating for the Peace Corps and other organizations. From there, we visited a small group of students representing Clean Ocean Action, an organization promoting awareness of ocean pollution and taking initiatives to correct this problem. The students running the table asked if we would mind taking a brief survey to help their cause, which would enter our names into a drawing to win a free gift basket. With the small number of students in attendance, we figure our chances of winning are pretty high! The survey asked us questions regarding what proximity we live to the beach, if we are concerned about polluted waters, and what actions we personally would be willing to take to help correct the growing problem. All in all, our visit was brief and pleasant.

            It was encouraging to see the students who did choose to present their projects, as it demonstrated just how dedicated they truly were to the causes for which they were advocating. My roommate and I, who had conducted our own fundraiser this year by selling tee shirts to benefit the Red Cross’s Disaster Relief Fund in reaction to the recent hurricane, realized we very easily could have chosen to present our project as well. I personally left the atrium feeling a bit disappointed in myself for not taking the initiative to present about the hard work we put into our own project over the course of this year, and am now motivated to participate next year. Hopefully in years to come, more students will feel compelled to share their projects with the rest of the Stockton community and inspire us all to give back.

On April 25, 2013, I attend Stockton’s Celebration of Service. I originally thought that this event was going to have tables and tables of students wishing to display their service efforts in the past semester. I was rather surprised to find that there were only a handful of service projects being displayed. The area by the library where the Celebration of Service was occurring was rather bare, and I was disappointed to see that not a lot of students wanted to share their projects.  I give a lot of credit to those students who were willing to display their hard work and efforts and I applaud them for their generous efforts in trying to make the community a better place.

One of the projects that caught my eye was called Clean Ocean Action. Clean Ocean Action is a project involving the cleaning up of the oceans after Hurricane Sandy. Anything that involves the revival of the shores after the hurricane immediately grabs my attention. The students that were running this project asked me to fill out a brief survey. The survey asked me questions regarding the beach I attend and how it has been affected by Sandy. It also asked me if I have been turned away from my beach due to the ruins of the shore after the devastating hurricane. The survey also asked how much I would be willing to donate, time or money, in order to help revive our shores. A bribe to filling out the survey was that you are actually put into raffle to win a free gift basket! The boys were giving out free bumper stickers to help raise awareness of this particular issue which is extremely relevant to a lot of our daily lives.

After having attended Celebration of Service, I was really disappointed that my roommate and I didn’t display our Jersey Strong Tee Shirt project. I think this would have stood out amongst the projects that were displayed and would have really caught people’s eyes. If we decide to continue working with this project, maybe we will document our efforts at next year’s Celebration of Service!