On September 7^th, 2013 I participated in the Tenth Annual Day of Service at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. What I initially expected to be an experience that would not significantly affect me turned out to be one of the most defining moments of my academic career here so far. I had woken up that morning with the idea that a group and my friends and myself were going to all work together on the same project and have a great time. However, the tables for each project only had so many spots so we eventually were all separated and I was only with one friend. At first I thought this was a disadvantage but in the long run it truly helped me branch out and meet some new people whom I otherwise would never have spoken to.

The service project that I had joined was called “DO ART” and the objective was to help volunteer at a local art festival hosted on the Atlantic City boardwalk. My job was to hand out ballots for the festival that would determine which art exhibit was the best. This task was a lot more important than I had originally thought because it really helped inform some people on the boardwalk of the show. It greatly increased the number of visits to each stand and overall revenue to the artists due to more pieces of art being purchased. Another task that I was given was to go around to each exhibit and ask if any of the artists needed help with any small jobs. We also talked to those interested in the festival and helped to keep everything up and running. Overall, this was a very positive and eye-opening experience for me, and I hope to participate in the next day of service.