On September 6, 2014, Stockton’s 11^th annual Day of Service, I went with a group of about twenty girls to South Jersey Horse Rescue. Having seen signs all around the campus for the event, I was eager to sign up to volunteer. When the day finally came, I woke up bright and early and prepared for a hard day of work helping whatever organization I ended up with. As I had already taken a look at the organizations that would be represented at the event, I was especially interested in South Jersey Horse Rescue, not only because I am very close with the woman who puts her heart and soul into the rescue, Ellen Strack, but also because it is imperative to help those gentle animals who suffer so in states of neglect and mistreatment.

After floating down the steps in the Campus Center to receive our t-shirts telling of our participation in the event, eating breakfast, and filling out a short waiver, we made our way to the event room. I quickly found SJHR’s table, and despite not recognizing any of the people sat there, I had a seat and introduced myself. These fresh and friendly faces would become more familiar as the day went on, but in that room we were still unsure of what was in store, and certainly none of us could have imagined just how much we would be doing for the people and horses we met at the rescue.

After arriving at the site, we were greeted by an exasperated and jolly Ellen bearing a checklist to be completed. The friendly sharpie on the orange poster board spelled out tasks ranging from relocating a tent that had sheltered a horse brought to the rescue only a few weeks before whose body was completely emaciated—scoring 1 on the horse body scale—who died there shortly thereafter, to replacing plastic insulators on the electric fence that keeps the horses from wandering away , to shoveling horse manure into empty feed bags to garner donations from local residents who fertilize their gardens with it, to sorting through trash, left from a huge fundraising concert Ellen had hosted, for recyclables and cans. She appeared a bit disheartened at the lack of male muscle-power present, but our group of strong women put all of our hearts into helping Ellen and by two o’clock, all of the tasks she had set out had been completed. Even our bus driver, Ray, helped massively by fixing Ellen’s broken lawn mower just enough to be able to mow the entire property before it broke down again, this time, for good. It was an extremely hot day, but having the horses as well as so many positive, hard-working people around all the time gave us the strength to power through the hours we spent there.

Personally, I feel this is definitely an organization I would help again, after seeing first hand just how much Ellen gives to her horses, and seeing the massive amount of work that goes into keeping the rescue running smoothly and helping as many horses as possible. Despite the lack of glamour in the tasks on our plate, we finished essential jobs that would have taken their few regular volunteers so much time to complete. If such a large group of people went in to help the rescue on a more regular basis, it would be possible to give the horses even better care—all the brushing and riding they could ever ask for—and perhaps even expand the site to be able to facilitate more horses. In addition, this would increase awareness for this organization that should be given unlimited spending to help those gentle and mistreated creatures.

September 5th at 6:00pm the ladies of D100 and D200 met for a movie night program organized by RA’s Julie and Susan. Building-mates came in p.j.’s with snacks, stuffed animals and pillows prepared to enjoy “13 Going on 30”. The film was selected for this program due to the “coming of age story”.

Just as the main character Jenna, new students at Stockton have entered adulthood “overnight”. Jenna is thrust into becoming an adult in a far more magical way then the ladies of D building, but we can all relate to many of the struggles she faces as we begin to live on our own for the first time.

I personally feel that this was an excellent choice of movie, especially considering the meaning behind it. The film not only follows Jenna threw her sudden entrance into adulthood, but also explores the struggles we each face every day involving staying true to ourselves. We watch 30 year old Jenna pick up the pieces of a life so different than she had ever dreamed. Jenna spends a large portion of the film trying to right wrongs and go back to the way things were when she was 13. I find the movie itself very heartwarming and filled with life lessons. About half the girls attending the program had never before seen the pop culture classic prior to this viewing. The vast majority of girls in attendance truly seemed to enjoy the flick and appreciated the relevance to our current situations.

After the film, Julie held a brief Q&A session for all the ladies of D building – with question topics ranging from Whose Line to the Honors Program. It was extremely helpful as Julie is so open, genuine and willing to help with whatever anyone needs.

It was very nice getting to bond with my building-mates while pigging out on snacks, laughing, and even crying. This movie is and will always be one of my favorites. This was a fantastic program and I look forward to future movie nights and the Q&A’s that follow. Thanks Julie and Susan!

On Tuesday September 16, my roommate and I went to go check out the sorority Sigma Sigma Sigma. Every fall and spring, the sorority sets out to recruit new members. They held a meeting in the academic building to give students a chance to learn more about them. When we first arrived, some of the sorority sisters were out in the hall greeting everyone who showed up. They wanted to give us a chance to meet each other, so we got in a circle and participated in some ice breakers. When it was time for the recruitment meeting to start, we signed in and were given a ticket with a sorority member’s name on it. It was our job to find that sorority sister and introduce ourselves. Once we found that member, we were free to mingle and get to know everyone. About halfway through we were shown a presentation to learn more about Tri Sigma. We learned about their philanthropy and what it means to them. The Sigma Sigma Sigma foundation helps children cope with their illnesses through therapeutic play, which allows the opportunity for play to occur in the hospital setting. The foundation helps to fund children’s therapy programs through the Robbie Page Memorial Fund. After the presentation, we mingled some more until it was time to leave.

Overall, it was a useful night that provided me with a lot of practical information about Tri Sigma. The meeting definitely changed the way I view sororities, and now I am even considering going back to another recruitment in the spring.  Before this meeting, I never knew what sororities actually did. I like that Tri Sigma helps chronically ill children cope with their illness. Tri Sigma shows that being in a sorority isn’t about socializing and going to parties, but instead it is about giving back and helping others.

On September 6, I participated in the eleventh annual Day of Service hosted by the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. This is an event that usually only lasts a few hours for each project. However, it still has an impact not only on the Stockton community, but the larger community around us. During this day, there were many service projects such as Books Without Borders, Girl Scouts, Water Watch, and others. I ultimately choose to give my time to Water Watch because there was a big group of us, and we had done clean ups before. Also, it was one of the few we could do together and seemed to be the one that interested us the most. Within this project, the goal was to contribute to making and maintaining a cleaner environment.

On this day, we personally helped the environment by doing a clean up of the campus. We were given gloves, trash bags, and grabbers, and we split into smaller groups and had designated areas to clean. However, since our campus is one of the cleanest in New Jersey, there was not much to clean up at first. Once we looked closer, though, we saw that there actually was a small problem with trash. Along the walkways and around the buildings, there were a large amount of cigarette butts. We cleaned up all of these and the other little amount of trash that was left. The cigarette butts were by far the hardest to clean up as they were tiny and hard to grab. This was annoying because there were so many and most were not even near the gazebos.

Although the cigarettes were annoying, it was overall an enjoyable experience. I was able to spend time with friends, listening to music, while also contributing to making a better, cleaner environment. It was hard work in the hot sun, but it made me feel good about myself knowing that I helped keep our campus beautiful. I know that most people won’t even realize what I have done, but I would definitely do this project again. I believe that clean ups are important because someone has to take steps to keep our environment clean.

Let me just start off saying that I thought that this Convocation was spectacular and I am so glad that this book was chosen for this years Freshman Common Reading. I am also so glad that Stockton was able to get Christina Baker Kline to visit, tell her story on how she wrote the book, answer our questions, and also sign our books. I loved hearing all about the real Orphan Trains and their riders, and how Kline worked her own story into her presentation.

In high school, I learned little about the Orphan Train Movement. There was some information on the movement in a small paragraph in one of my history textbooks, but when the teacher was teaching the lesson, he skimmed over the subject. It was barely talked about in my class and very little was said, with no details. After reading the Orphan Train novel, I learned a lot about the movement and what train riders actually went through. The best part about this book is that it is from the eyes of a train rider, so you saw what they witnessed, felt how they felt, and heard what they had to listen to. We got an inside look with this book, and Kline, I believe, wrote it perfectly.

At the Convocation, I loved the story that Kline told about Pat, who was an Orphan Train rider that oddly had the same story as Vivian, one of the main characters in Orphan Train. I thought it was funny that Kline pretty much wrote Pat’s life and she didn’t even know it. Hearing that Pat got to meet her family in Ireland makes me so overwhelmed with joy because she got to know the people that were “her people” before she died. When she found them, they accepted her with open arms, acting like her and her mother never went to America in the first place. I was disappointed that she never got to meet her mother, though, and I wish that she could find that essential part of her history, but not everything can come out perfectly.

After the presentation was finished, Kline opened up the room for questions. Unfortunately, I was not picked to ask my question, but one student asked if there was a movie coming out based on the book. It was a great question and I am so glad that he asked it because I would love to see it. I think it would be so interesting, unlike any other historical or non-fiction movies that have come out. I think that it could tell the story that not many people know about and with the movie, more people would be aware of the event that many people look over in history called the Orphan Train Movement.

At the end, even though I did not get the opportunity to ask Kline my question in the auditorium, I was able to ask her during the book signing. I asked, “You just told the story of Pat reuniting with her family in Ireland, and at the end of your book, Vivian got the chance to reunite with her daughter that she gave up for adoption. Are you thinking about writing a sequel to the book telling of Vivian and her daughter reuniting or a sequel from the daughter’s or great-granddaughter’s point of view?” Kline loved that I asked the question and the only thing she said was, “That is a great thought, and that might make a great book, but you will just have to keep your eyes open and see if it ever happens.” I think she was pretty much saying that it is in the making and will be coming out in a few years or so. If any sequel to Orphan Train does release, whether it is from Molly’s, Vivian’s, or her daughter Sarah’s point of view, I will be sure to grab myself a copy and read it. The ending of Orphan Train was a cliff hanger, and I really don’t like books that keep me guessing what happens next, so hearing that there might be a sequel really excited me.

To set the record straight, Kline is not like other authors, simply writing the book to make money and then charging tons of money to make appearance. Kline was so nice, sincere, and all around great person. I am so glad that I got to meet her and have a little chat. Hopefully, in the future, I will be able to read the sequel, go to another presentation, and get that book signed by Christina Baker Kline as well.

Just a few days ago, on September 23, 2014, my Honors Freshman Seminar class met in F111 with the other Honors Freshman Seminar classes to complete an activity together. We played a game called “Scavenger Hunt,” where we were given clues and went into the library to find the object described. A week earlier, each class had to create one (or more if you wanted) clue that would describe a book, movie, cassette, CD, etc. that was located in the library. The catch was, we had to find a book, movie, etc. that had to do with our main concept in class: Food.

At first, I thought that this was going to be easy and that all I had to do was find a cookbook or something similar. However, we had to find a book that had to do with food, but was not an actual cookbook. This made things a little bit trickier. My first plan of action was to go to the internet and research books that had food as a main topic, but were not cookbooks. There were so many and I was really surprised that I have not heard more of the titles, since many were bestsellers. My next plan of action was to go to the library’s website to see if they had some of the books, but I came back empty handed. Next, instead of searching on the internet first, I went right to the library’s website and typed in key words. I did not type in“food,” though, but specific words like “Martini, Cannibalism, and Recipes.” I came out with a handful of books to choose from. In my class, my teacher, Professor G.T. Lenard, asked us to write down five clues for five different items that were in the library. After I found three great, somewhat challenging books that the other students would have to spend time finding, I decided to actually go to the library and look through some of their movie collections to find two more items to put on my list. I walked up and down the isles, reading the titles until I found two that had food as their main topics. I copied them down and then in class, handed all of the clues in. The next class we would meet in F111 and go to the library.

After using the library’s website and actually looking through some of their selection, I had a better understanding of how to use the library and how to find things without the librarians help. I know that they are there to help the students, but it is great to know how to do things on your own. When we started the scavenger hunt, I was placed in a group, picked my clue, and was on my way trying to find the specific book, movie, or other item that was in the library. First, I went to the computer and looked up some key words that were in the hint that I received. After scrolling through a few pages, I finally found the book and copied down where it was located in the library. After asking the librarian where my section was located and waiting for my friends to find their clues, we went upstairs together to a room I never even knew existed. I found my book, which was called “The Italian Way,” copied down the information I needed, and headed to find my friends’ books. After finding all of the books, we headed back to F111.

This activity was actually really fun and I learned more about the library than I’ve ever known before. I’ve discovered rooms that I have never even knew existed and I know that there are still more rooms to explore. I cannot wait to be able to go back and just walk through the whole library to see what kind of items they have in stock. After this activity, I can confidently say that I know how to find books and other items in the library without the librarian’s help.

Stockton puts together lots of events throughout the beginning of the year to try to get the students, especially incoming freshmen, involved with activities. One of the multiple events to try and get the students involved that I attended was actually named “The Get Involved Fair”. The Office of Student Development and the Office of Service Learning were the two organizations that held this event. It was a huge event, held on the 16^th and 17^th of September, that succumbed the whole academic building and tons of groups and clubs were there basically advertising themselves to be joined. I thought that this was a great idea because it was a great place to see all of the many clubs Stockton has to offer and you could even leave your name and contact information so that the clubs could contact you with meeting information.

While I was at the fair, I signed up for a lot of clubs and groups. One group that I liked in particular was the Disney Association. I plan on attending their second meeting that’s coming up this Tuesday, September 30^th. With the Disney Association, you can sign up to intern in Disney World for a semester and it seems like a great experience. I would love to work at Disney because it’s my favorite place in the United States. Without the Get Involved Fair, I may have never known when the meetings would take place and may have never actually gotten involved with that group like I wanted to.

Along with the Disney Association, I also found many other clubs like the Italian Heritage Club, the Admission Ambassadors, and Greek Life interesting. I’m very excited to get involved on campus and hopefully meet lots of new people with common interests as me. I also hope that joining these clubs that interest me will help me build skills that I can use for the rest of my life. If you missed the Get Involved Fair this semester, they hold them every semester so you will still have another chance to get involved. Even without the fair, it’s very easy to find out about clubs and groups on campus and if you contact them they’d most likely gladly give you information about when and where their meetings are held.

Waking up at eight thirty was not my first choice on a Saturday morning. With syllabus week behind me (as well as the final denial of summer’s conclusion), I was ready to soak in the extra hours of sleep…that is, until the melodic blaring of the alarm sounded, and I was harshly reminded that those few extra hours would not be coming today.

Whatever I had been expecting was nothing compared to this.

It was Saturday, September 6^th, our first Day of Service, so my friend and I decided to stick together. We combed through the list of organizations, and at the mention of horses, it was game over. My friend all but dashed through the doors like a runner from her gate, with me in tow behind her. The process was confusing, but we quickly found the group that would take us to the South Jersey Horse Rescue. We hopped on the bus, and by the time our small group had reached the farm, the sun had climbed higher and the temperature had soared to a sweltering level. The head of the facility showed us around the field, introducing us to the horses and informing us of their overall mission at the rescue. It was truly inspiring; the horses each had its own story. Most were strong and healthy, rescued from a one-way trip to Mexico where they were to be sold for horsemeat. Several came in dangerously underweight, malnourished or abused. A dwarfed mother that was raised for breeding nearly starved before being brought to the rescue. She lost her foal, but she found refuge in the safety of the reserve. Another lost an eye to a cataract. Each of their stories were unique, and knowing the stories of these creatures gave me renewed resolve.

The work was not easy. We started off with tugging branches across the fields and into the woods. Then we progressed to shoveling manure, trimming the grass, even constructing the frame for a new shelter. By the time we were finished, we were drenched in sweat, exhausted, and ready to go. However, despite the work we put into it, I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Field hands were few, and there was much work that had to be done. The head also lived on the property, and she wouldn’t have been able to replicate all we had done all on her own. As tired as I was after working five hours in the heat, I saw the effect we had on the farm and was satisfied with our accomplishment. It was truly rewarding to see the results of our labor fade into the distance as we pulled out, knowing we had made a difference.