On September 7th, Stockton College participated in the Annual Day of Service. It is said that the Day of Service has always taken place on campus in the years past, but this year was the first year that Stockton has gone completely off campus for the project. The theme this year was Do AC, which included a multitude of different projects dispersed throughout the city to benefit the overall community. Having participated in a wide variety of service projects in high school I had a pretty good image for what I was about to undertake, yet in reality the day took a turn that I would never had expected in my wildest dreams.
Upon my arrival to the campus center event room, all the participants were split into different groups which would carry out a different service project. Due to my incredibly indecisive nature I milled about for some time and, as only the ever present irony of life would have it, I returned to the project at which I went to first, but of course the project was full. The project I ended up with was voter registration, which at first I had the notion that the opportunity to sit at a table and fill out some papers would be a somewhat enjoyable one. If anything, I had foolishly believed the task would be easy, and my lazy nature would be able to commandeer the forefront of my mind. I could not have been more wrong.
The reality of the task assigned to me was the grueling process of trudging up and down the boardwalk, in addition to the sullen feeling of blunt rejection and lewd comments that seemed to be, in simple terms, unnecessary. The occasional smile and polite response would be an uplifting gust of wind that would undoubtedly recede, allowing my spirits to sink yet again. After a couple of hours of this same process repeating over and over again, I found my mind begin to stray from the task at hand, and eventually I found myself contemplating the current issues and universal truths of life. Returning to our base camp I discovered that my comrades had the same minuscule amount of success.
After the Day of Service was complete, I had definitely learned a thing or two. First, I learned that people on vacation would have nothing to do with the confusing world of politics, or any other task they deem unworthy of their time. I also learned that there are many jobs throughout the world that have a minimal amount of positive response, and feel as if their work is fruitless, yet it is these people and these jobs that actually carry a great amount of significance in the terms of actual change in our society. If anything I will most definitely have a greater amount of respect for those individuals who are in any sort of service position.