On September 27, 2014, a group of honors students and I traveled to the Atlantic County Animal Shelter to provide our volunteer services. My friend Lauren and I both drove our cars to the shelter, transporting our other honors friends with us, and arrived Saturday morning at around 9 am. I had never volunteered at an animal shelter before, despite my love of animals, so I didn’t really have an understanding of what I would be getting myself into, but my experience there has been my favorite one yet.

As we walked into the shelter, there was a small group of other honors students all filling out the proper paperwork that the shelter required before getting to work, so we joined them. After signing off on the papers, we all got assigned to different jobs. I, along with two other friends (Matt and Drew), volunteered to clean the main floor. First, Matt and I took to sweeping – he used the broom and I held the dustpan, and I must say, our little team worked rather efficiently. After we swept an area, Drew would come follow-up with a good mopping. Once that was all done, I went over the whole floor with the vacuum, while Matt helped out by holding the extremely long power cord for me.

We finished cleaning pretty quickly, so my cleaning crew of three joined Lauren and Josh, who were taking care of the sick kittens in a separate room. Here came the easy job of holding the little kittens while their cages were getting cleaned out – that’s how I found out that there’s probably nothing cuter than a kitten sneezing. After a while of helping out in that room, my sinuses began to act up and my throat started getting itchy, so I figured some cat allergies were rearing their ugly symptoms. Once I started sneezing, I decided it’d be a good idea to get out of that room (my sneezing is a lot less cute than a kitten’s).

Next came the best part, the highest reward for our volunteering services: playing with the dogs! I am a dog lover, no doubts about it. Since I have my own dog at home and don’t get to see him everyday, seeing all these excited dogs and puppies tugged at my heartstrings. I can honestly admit that I tried my hardest to pet all of those dogs as well as I could through the chain link fence that separated us. Luckily, some of the dogs were put outside in a small fenced-in play area, so there were a few energetic ones we could freely pet and have a good time with.

Leaving the shelter was bittersweet in that I loved seeing all the animals and doing a good service for their caretakers, but I also saw so many dogs that I would have adopted in a heartbeat. I can only hope that they all get good homes. Thanks to my experience here, when I am in the position to have my own pet, I know it will be a shelter animal. All in all, it was extremely rewarding to work at the shelter, and I hope I get the chance to do more service work there in the future.

Hailee Tocco

Honors Service-Learning

Professor Rosner

20 September 2014

Of all the advice I received before starting college, becoming involved on campus was the most beneficial. Stockton’s biannual Get Involved fair ensures that all students have the opportunity to find compatible clubs and organizations that align with their hobbies and interests.

Walking into the main campus building was overwhelming at first, with hundreds of tables set up along the hallway and an abnormally loud noise level. People were everywhere, talking to club leaders and participating in games to win prizes from various organizations. Each club had an enticing display, and many were offering food to encourage interest.

I first stopped at the Stockton Action Volunteers for the Environment table, a club that is dedicated to improving environmental conditions both locally and globally. Next on my list was Circle K, which is a service-oriented program that participates in a variety of events. Finally, I stopped at SET, the Stockton Entertainment Team, where I learned about the activities that are planned for the upcoming semester and won a pair of SET headphones.

In my opinion, the Get Involved fair is wonderful at truly connecting students to a club that interests them. By hosting the clubs and organizations in the main campus building, it is ensured that most everyone will be able to observe the happenings and pop by a few booths at one point or another. The ease of viewing all that Stockton has to offer is encouraging in itself, because I may not have felt so inclined to sign up for multiple clubs had I been required to go to several informational meetings on different days and at different times.

       Stockton truly does offer opportunities that are sure to please everyone. Furthermore, everyone is quite friendly and willing to take their time to thoroughly explain the significance of their club or organization. If you missed this fall’s Get Involved fair, be sure to check it out in the spring.

Olivia Gorecke

Professor L. Rosner

Life of the Mind – GEN 1033

23 September 2014

Get Involved Fair

On September 16^th and 17^th, Stockton held their annual get involved fair, spanning the entirety of A-J Wings. As a commuter student with a somewhat hefty drive, I originally did not plan on attending either day. I was under the impression that I would merely attend classes each day without truly committing to any organization. Needless to say however, this was not the case.

While perusing the nearly one hundred and fifty various organizations with some friends, I thought it nearly impossible to not find one area of interest. The hallways overflowed with student organizations, sororities, fraternities, volunteer opportunities, and a myriad of others, all present for the express purpose of getting people to participate.  Throughout the day, the Student Development table also hosted refreshments and giveaways. The largest Get Involved Fair yet also featured many community partners, all there to assist Stockton students outside of the classroom and make their college experience a memorable one.

As mentioned previously, I had devoted little thought to actually joining any organizations. However, after talking with a number of organizations that piqued my interest and explaining my predicament as a commuter, members were more than understanding and extremely willing to work with my schedule to allow me to participate. I walked away from this event with a completely different perspective on getting involved, no longer feeling as if I could not participate because I do not live on campus.

Every Thursday, from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM, I attend yoga in the TRLC. Yoga is also held in the Lodge at Lakeside every Tuesday at the same time; however, I am unable to also attend that session because I have a class during that time. Still, I find just one hour every Thursday evening to be sufficient. During the first week, there were nearly fifty people who squeezed their mats onto the floor of the TRLC. Luckily, for those of us who continue to attend the sessions, the numbers have been dwindling since and each week it becomes easier to claim a spot on the floor (permitting I continue to show up early enough).

Last week’s yoga session consisted of “yin yoga.” Considering many of us in the room had never heard of this form of yoga previously, the instructor explained exactly what yin yoga was before beginning. She told us it was a form of yoga that focuses on stretching the connective tissue in our body as opposed to the muscle tissue that is stretched during your average yoga session. We did this by bending our bodies into a series of positions and holding each of them for approximately four minutes. At the end of each position we would carefully and slowly come back to a neutral position before moving into the next one, all while constantly focusing on our breathing.

I find yoga a great way to push away any stressful thoughts about school assignments and upcoming exams. For an hour, I can completely clear my mind and focus on relaxing my body. I recommend attending these yoga sessions to anyone who has an hour to spare each week and is interested in a healthy outlet for his or her stress. Taking part in the yoga offered on campus has been a great experience and I plan to keep these sessions a part of my weekly calendar.

Meghan Butryn

GEN 1033, Honors: Life of the Mind

Dr. McGovern

25 September 2014

On Thursday September 18^th the G-K quad hosted a Hoedown Throwdown to welcome the lovely fall weather. There was all tables set up in the G through K building area for you to sit with friends and enjoy food and refreshments that were provided. There were all different kinds of snacks and an assortment of wings with different hot sauces for you to try. Along with that there was all types of mustaches and beards in lollipop form for you to take pictures with and of course eat and enjoy!

Once you got finished eating all the free food they started the wing eating contest. It started out with about twelve different girls and guys ready to take on the challenge. For the first round you had to eat each wing in a certain amount of time. Each person started with four wings that went up in the hotness level. All twelve people made it through to the second round but only two people decided to compete again due to the fact that everyone else mouth was on fire. For this round the winner had to eat four wings covered with the hottest sauce as fast as they could. The winner was then crowned with a giant cowboy hat.

Once the wing contest was finished we moved on to throwing pies in our RA’s faces and I’m not sure who wouldn’t want to do that. Of course me and my friends through a pie each at our old RA at the same time. During this time they handed out free bandanas and started lighting up a “fire” (just a grill really but same thing!) so we could make some oh so delicious s’mores. Overall it was a great event and if you were there I’m sure you had lots of fun getting to know your fellow residents and RA’s!

On the evening of September 24, 2014 at 7:30, the doors to the Richard Stockton Campus Center Theater opened up to approximately fifty students waiting in line for the comedy show “Whose Line is it Anyway?”.  The comedy show, hosted by the Stockton Theater Club, features seven student performers who act out a series of improvisational games that often include audience participation.  Performances are held monthly, and each month introduces new cast members as well as returning veterans such as show host Amber Pierdinock.

Before entering the theater, audience members had the opportunity to write down suggestions for two games:  “Party Quirks” and “One-Liners”.  These suggestions, written on scraps of paper, would be selected at random from buckets at various points in the show.  Upon entering the theater, audience members were greeted by the cast sitting on stage: senior host Amber Pierdinock, senior co-host Josh Dutko, seniors John Wisienski and Madelaine Welch, junior transfer student Madeleine Favazza, and freshmen Christian Jimenez, Phoebe Gruetter, and myself, Erin Toye.  As the show started, audience members quickly picked up on the style of comedy, giving suggestions for scene prompts, actions, and character-choice.  With a few minutes remaining in the show, senior cast members performed a final skit known as “Helping Hands”, in which John and Madelaine acted as arms and hands for Josh and Amber during a spoof of a cooking show.  The audience was left in an uproarious laughter as Josh and Amber attempted to make a sandwich with “their” hands, ultimately ending in a mixture of ingredients tossed both in their faces and on the ground.  The actors took their bows and with a final applause, the audience exited the theater with laughter.

Overall, as a performer I am glad to see that the audience enjoyed the comedic improvisational show.  I also am lucky to have joined the theater troop and have bonded with colleagues whom I am happy to call friends.  I will be participating in more events with the Stockton Theater Club, including next month’s rendition of “Whose Line is it Anyway?”, and we hope to draw an even bigger audience.

As a freshman student walking through the halls of Stockton, it gets pretty lonely sitting in the Campus Center alone, day after day. It’s hard to make friends when you aren’t on a sports team. It’s hard to make friends when you don’t live on campus. It’s hard to put yourself out there when you fear the person will reject your invitation for lunch. The Get Involved Fair was the perfect solution to introducing people to other people with similar interests.

The hallway of tables were a tiny bit intimidating because there were so many options to choose that it was hard to narrow down. There were community service clubs, sororities, fraternities, academic clubs, intermural sports, leadership clubs and many more. The members of the clubs present at the tables were eager to help interested new students sign up. They made me feel comfortable about choosing clubs and activities that pinpointed my desires and goals.

There are many students at Stockton ranging from different ages to different majors. It is comforting to find other people with similar interests within the large school. Stockton College is very mindful of their students whether they live on campus or are commuting like myself. The Get Involved Fair makes it easier for students to come in contact with those people while enjoying fun activities on and off campus.

On September 6, 2014, I attended the eleventh annual Day of Service. As I walked into the Campus Center Event Room, there was a sea of tables set up offering all different service projects. After I looked at all of the service options, I decided I wanted to be part of the group that was going to help at The Shores of Wesley Manor, which is an assisted living community in Ocean City, New Jersey.

When the group first arrived at The Shores of Wesley Manor, a staff member escorted us upstairs to a large meeting room. The group stuffed goodie-bags with bubbles, a cup, a mirror, hand sanitizers, and a wristband. It was nice to know that I was able to help the staff prepare for the huge event that they were going to host the following day, but I really wanted to interact with the residents.

After the group finished stuffing the goodie-bags, a staff member asked if we wanted to help the residents bowl. Everyone in the group was excited and agreed to assist the residents bowl. Bowling involved a group member moving a resident’s wheelchair over to a ramp and helping them push the ball down the ramp to knock down the pins. I could tell that the six residents that participated in the bowling activity were immensely enjoying themselves by the smiles on their faces. Just seeing the residents happily clap when they bowled a strike was so rewarding.

After the day at The Shores of Wesley Manor, I felt awesome because I knew that just by spending some time with the residents I had helped to put smiles on their faces and make their day special.