On Sunday March 22, I went on a bus trip to New York City that was sponsored by SET and the Hillel Club. The cost of this trip was only fifteen dollars and included transportation to and from New York City and a ticket to see an off Broadway production of Avenue Q.

When we got to New York we were given several hours to walk around the area and do whatever we wanted. So of course, my friends and I started our day with the Disney store. I browsed all of the wonderful Disney merchandise that I could not afford, and left with a small Olaf Tsum Tsum for my mom. If you do not know what this item is, I suggest looking it up. It was kind of creepy looking, but at the same time I felt like it needed to have a home on my mom’s work desk.

After the Disney store we went to Ellen’s Stardust Diner. This was the best dining experience I have ever had. Instead of having music on in the background, the wait staff takes turns performing. Everyone who works there has either been on Broadway and is in between shows, or they dream of being on Broadway. Every one of them was amazing. At one point it was our waitress’s turn to sing, but she was in the middle of doing normal waitress things. Because of this, she started her song and continued to swipe credit cards and pour coffee, and it had no effect on her performance. When she was done with what she was doing, she walked to the stage to complete her song. The stage was the ledge between the booths and I had no idea it was the stage until one of my friends told me they would be walking right behind me.

At one point, one of the performers was singing on the stage behind me. Then I felt my hair stand up and realized he was messing with me. After that, he began to sing to me, so I sang back. He pointed the microphone at me and I got to sing about one and a half lines of the song into the mic before he took it back. It was pretty awesome getting my five second solo.

When we finished lunch, we went to the Hershey and M&Ms stores. My goal was to buy a piece of chocolate that was bigger than it should be; however, I decided to save my money to get a souvenir from the show.

After shopping for chocolate, we went to the show. Avenue Q was hysterical, but it was definitely an adult show. There were some children in the audience, and I am assuming their parents had no clue what happened in the show. One of my friends pointed out, “Once you sit with your parents and watch puppets have sex, your relationship never goes back to what it was.” That was in fact one of the scenes in the show, and I am assuming those children have been scarred for life. Although some scenes made me uncomfortable, I laughed throughout the whole show.

I was really happy with this entire trip and I am excited to go on next year’s New York City bus trip.

On March 4, 2015, I attended Stockton’s Business Etiquette Dinner. I was invited to this dinner by one of my professors. It was a valuable experience and I am honored that she asked me to be her guest.

At this dinner, we learned the proper etiquette for any sort of business dinner. This could be either an interview over dinner, or some sort of business meeting. We were served a five-course meal for this dinner, and with each course we were instructed on the proper way to eat. The presentation began with an explanation of what every piece of silverware was for. We were also instructed to always follow the person hosting the dinner event for cues such as when to begin eating. Once we went over these basics, dinner began to be served.

First, we were served rolls and soup. We were instructed to rip or cut off a bite-sized piece of the roll. Then butter that individual piece and eat it. This is how we were told to eat the entire roll. The presenter mentioned that it was not proper to dip the roll in the soup, so remember that.

When I finished my roll I moved on to my soup. I had put this off because the soup had corn floating in it. I like corn, but when it is in things it kind of freaks me out. However, to avoid being improper, I ate the soup. We were given an entire slide on how to eat soup, so I was sure to sip it from the side of the spoon and to avoid making a slurping noise. The soup was surprisingly delicious, even with the freaky corn. Relieved, I finished my soup in this same, proper manner.

The next portion of the meal was our salads. I learned that if you are given two knives, which we were, one is for salad. As strange as I thought it was, I ate my salad with both my knife and fork. After the salad we were given lemon sorbet. There were no real instructions for this portion other than to not eat the lemon that held the sorbet. The lemon was strictly for presentation.

As we finished the lemon sorbet, I realized I had to get to my night class. I tried to excuse myself quietly; however, my professor did not want to let me leave without food. Because of this, my attempt at leaving caused quite a scene; however, my embarrassment eventually faded and I left with what I would have been given for dinner. After my class, I was grateful to have the dinner with me, even though obtaining it did cause a bit of a scene. Chartwells did a great job with the food for this dinner and I still do not understand why N-wing food does not taste like the food they serve at these events.

On Thursday March 19^th at 2:30, Stockton’s School of Business hosted Judy Wicks. Judy Wicks is a businessperson, environmental activist, and author. She has won many awards for her promotional work. Judy Wicks gave a lecture and a led a discussion. The presentation started off with Marylyn Veto introducing the Dean of Business, and then the Dean of Business introducing Judy Wicks.

Judy Wicks spoke about her book Good Morning Beautiful Business, which is a love story as well as a book about business. She spoke a lot about business being a relationship with nature and how you can express a love of life and nature though business. She discussed her interest in sustainability. She also gave background information about herself, some of it being that she ran White Dog Café and she lived in Alaska and volunteered there to embrace the Eskimo culture. She gave her perspective on the Eskimo culture in Alaska and their values of sharing and cooperation, and related that culture to business. Everything Judy Wicks spoke about connected. She spoke well and held the attention of the audience. She had a lot of passion in her speech. Judy Wicks was very enjoyable to listened to.

This event was very crowded. Many of the audience members were business students. As Judy Wicks spoke, her book was being sold. There was a vendor off to the side of the room selling copies of it. At the end of the event, Judy Wicks held a book signing. Light refreshments were served, too. There were cookies, fruit, and some drinks. This event was informative and interesting, for business majors and non-business majors alike.

Stockton’s Theater Club put on a play called Crumble: Lay me Down Justin Timberlake. The play opened on November 12, 2014 and ran until November 16^th. I watched the performance on November 13^th. It was an excellent show. I went to see the show because one of my friends, Phoebe Gruetter, was acting in it and some friends and I wanted to go to support her. Phoebe played a character called Barbara. The aunt. The other characters were a mother, a daughter, a father, Justin Timberlake, and a building. It was a deep and meaningful show that addressed topics such as family and loss.

The play was in the Experimental Theater, which is next to the Performing Arts Center. The Experimental Theater is a small room that holds about 70 people. The stage took up the majority of the room, and there were a few rows of chairs lined up for the audience. When I saw the show, every seat was taken. The show was about two hours long. Through the audience’s response, it was clear that the show was a success.

After the show, the cast set up chairs on the stage where they sat and spoke to the audience about what the show means to them, how they relate to their character, what is was like rehearsing for the show and things like that. Hearing from the actors, the director, and the behind the stage crew was interesting. The answered questions that they already had prepared as well as questions that the audience had for them. The cast members took turns alternating who answered each question. Their answers were informative and gave a new perspective to the show. Crumble: Lay me Down Justin Timberlake was a great production.

On Halloween, my friends and I attended Harvest Fest in the freshman quad. It was sunny and warm for late October, so it was a great day to be outside. The students running the event were dressed up in Halloween costumes. There was a line of tables set up where vendors sold crafts and jewelry. Pumpkins were arranged next to the vendors. If you picked a pumpkin, you could paint and decorate it. On the other end of the quad, there was food. Veggie burgers, squash soup, and pumpkin pie were being served to eat and the available drinks were water, hot chocolate, and apple cider. There was also a bowl of fruit and a bike that powered a blender, so people could make smoothies.

My friends and I came to Harvest Fest around lunchtime, so we got food first. We all enjoyed what we ate. In the middle of the quad, a stage was set up for live music. We listened to the bands and singers as we ate. A lot of groups from the Music Union performed. After we ate, we went over to the vendors. We browsed the items, and we were all given free Halloween candy. Inside the TRLC clothing, books, and household items were being given away so we looked through that stuff, too.

After looking around, we went back to our table to watch and listen to more musicians. It started to get cooler out, so we drank hot beverages as we enjoyed the performances. This event lasted all afternoon, and we stayed for a long time. It was a great event, and it seemed to be enjoyed by many. This event happens once a year, and I will continue to go. Harvest Fest was a nice way to spend Halloween.

On February 22, I attended a trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC with my Holocaust class. This trip was required as part of the class curriculum. We took a bus into Washington DC. The bus ride was about four hours long. To keep the students entertained, my professor brought and played many movies relating to what we have been studying about the Holocaust in class. Before the trip, we were given an assignment to complete. The movies that we watched on the bus helped us to answer the questions, too.

Once we got to Washington DC, the bus driver let us off in front of the museum. We had to go through security, and then we were given an identification card of someone who experienced the Holocaust. Once everyone in the class had a card, we were instructed to go up elevators in small groups. The Elevators brought us to the first exhibit on the top floor. The museum was set up so that you started at the top and then worked your way down to the ground level.

There was a lot to take in at this museum. It was very informative. This was my first time going to this museum, and I will probably go back. There is so much to read and look at, and we only stayed for two hours. During those two hours, we were given the freedom to look at whatever we wanted. We were not on a guided tour, which was nice because each individual could spend his or her time in the exhibits that were most interesting to him or her.

When the two hours were up, we got on the bus and headed back to campus. We stopped at Panera for dinner. This trip was a good experience. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum was definitely worth visiting.

On February 24^th, my RA, Julie, held a floor program about raising your voice and using your freedom of speech. Julie gathered floor-mates and others into the common room. She explained to everyone there that we are lucky to live in a place where we have freedom of speech, so we should express it. She told us that those who have a voice should use it, and they should use it to stand up for something they believe in. By doing this, Julie was speaking out for freedom of speech, which is something she strongly believes in.

After Julie spoke, she showed us all a background that she made. The background was a collage of pictures of protest signs people made to stand up for causes that they feel strongly about. For the majority of the floor program, Julie asked us to create our own protest signs utilizing poster board and paint. After we made a sign, we were encouraged to pose in front of the background and take pictures with our sign to post all over social media so others would see and the word could be spread.

The program was such a success. Making the signs was so much fun. It was a good way for our floor to bond and hang out for a night. The signs got everyone talking about things that wouldn’t normally come up in conversation. It was so interesting to see what everyone chose to write on his or her sign. I personally chose to advocate against animal cruelty. A few others did, too. The similarities and the differences in our signs got everyone talking and more informed about the problems happening in the world right now. The program was entertaining and informative.

On the last Tuesday of the Fall 2014 semester, there was a holiday celebration on my floor. Sparkly snowflake decorations were hung up around the common room next to the “pin the nose on the Rudolph”, and people showed up in festive sweaters carrying wrapped gifts that they placed in the center of the room. Everyone attending was asked to bring a wrapped, gender-neutral gift that is funny but functional. We were having a white elephant party. At a white elephant party, everyone sits in a circle and draws a number from a hat that is passed around. In order of the numbers, participants choose a gift and unwrap it for everyone to see. Once the first gift is open, the next people to choose a gift can either unwrap a new one or take a gift that someone else already opened.

Before the gift exchange, everyone walked around socializing and snacking. There was pizza, mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, fruit, and vegetables supplied by residential life. There was a hot chocolate machine, too. We got to the gift exchange quickly, though, because everyone was excited to unwrap them. Unwrapping the gifts was so much fun. Each new thing opened brought so many smiles and laughs. If someone opened something that they really liked and someone else took it from them, the original opener was not even upset because all of the gifts were good. Everyone was so clever with what they purchased. There was a ten-dollar limit on the gifts, but that did not limit the quality of the gifts at all.

This was a great event to end the semester off with. People were stressed because of finals, so laughing and time with friends was just what we all needed. Even though this was just a one-time thing, hopefully we will organize something similar in the future because it was very successful.

On February 5^th I went to the PRSSA panel. I was a member of PRSSA last semester, so I was looking forward to starting to attend the meetings again. The panel was being held at one of their meetings. This meeting was very interesting because they had the panel of students who graduated from Stockton and were members of PRSSA. The panel featured Siera Smith, Heather Costabile, Stacy Hanas and Kate Drake. The four of them sat at a table in the front of a large classroom. It was set up kind of like a press conference. They answered questions about their jobs, internships, interview tips, social media, and their favorite classes and memories at Stockton.

I thought the panel was very informative. The answers that the women gave were interesting and insightful. There advice about what to do during an interview was especially helpful; they gave really good tips. They did talk about PRSSA a lot, which I thought was the only negative about the panel for someone who is already a member and does not need to be convinced to join. They could have used more of that time to talk about jobs and internships. Although they put a lot of emphasis on trying to convince people to join PRSSA, overall the panel was helpful and it was a good experience. This was just a one-time event, but repeating this event would be a good idea because it went very well.

On February 14^th 2015, the ICCAs were hosted in Stockton University’s performing arts center. Ten acapella groups came to Stockton from different colleges all over New Jersey, incuding the teams from Rutgers, Ramapo, and Montclair. Tickets had to be purchased ahead of time at the box office. The show was opened by one of Stockton’s non-competing acapella groups. They sang a few songs, and then the hosts, Christian and Julie, introduced the first group.

The show was so interesting to watch. It was clear that so much goes into an acapella performance. The music is so complex and beautiful. The songs were prepared and practiced a lot. Thought had to go into which songs to sing and the order to sing them for the judges. The music takes so much effort to get right, and then the teams also have to consider choreography and outfits. You wouldn’t think outfits are that important, but when there are many teams competing an outfit choice can make a group stand out.

All of the groups were great. They sang contemporary and older songs, faster and slower songs, and serious and fun songs. They were on for about ten minutes each. It was truly a great night with many wonderful performances. After the last group performed, another Stockton University acapella group that does not compete performed. They sang a medley of songs to entertain the audience while the judges deliberated. In the end, an all male group from Rutgers University won. Stockton University came in 3^rd. Overall, it was a very enjoyable night.