One of the most interesting events during Welcome Week was not mandatory and was offered two times. This was the nature walk around Lake Fred. It was offered at 9:30 AM and 1:30 PM on Monday, August 31, 2015. The tour lasted one hour and met outside of the gazebo next to the Arts and Sciences Building. The tour was led by Susan Allen, who is a graduate student here at Stockton. During this walk, students were given booklets about the different wildlife and plants that they could see around Lake Fred. When something that was in the book was spotted, the guide showed us the real thing and told us the page in the book to get more information about it. This made the tour not only fun, but also informational. Students were given time along the way to take pictures and observe the plants around the lake. We walked as a group and were encouraged to get to know one another along the way. Several students from the Honors Program were present and were about to discuss their adjustment to the campus as well as the freshman read.

One of the most fascinating thing that was covered on this tour was the information about the osprey, our school logo. We also learned about other birds that are commonly mistaken for the osprey. Another fact explained on the tour was that once ospreys were introduced to Lake Fred, the lake was too small to support a family of ospreys because the lake simply did not have enough fish for them. Although no osprey families live here at Stockton, many live nearby and come to visit and fish for short periods of time. We saw images of the osprey in our booklets and heard a boy in our group discuss his sighting of an osprey.

We saw the Oasis, which is a beach like area near the Lakeside Lodge. We traveled on both the light and dark paths and crossed several bridges. Our tour group also traveled on a small trail connecting the light and dark paths together. Ambiguous Students taking advantage of this activity became more familiar with the layout of the campus, especially how to reach the other side of the lake. This information will be handy to know when one must park her car in North Lot. Personally, I felt a lot more comfortable walking around the lake after the tour.