The Honors Experience at Stockton University is a program for the incoming freshmen or transfer students who will be in the honors program. This year it took place from June 22nd-June 23rd. At this the students got to meet a few of the older students in the honors program as well as the freshmen and transfers who attended the event.
To start off the two days everyone went to a room and went over each other’s name and a fun fact. After going through every student, Irish step dancing was next on the schedule. At first everyone was hesitant and wasn’t sure why we were doing it. After a few hours of trying to learning and attempting the dance it was time for a different activity. All the students got some free time and could either play volleyball or go back to their room. Playing volleyball was fun because everyone was doing it. There were about 20 students at least on each side of the net, and it was easy to meet and bond with your fellow classmates. After a little bit of free time it was time for dinner, which was a taco bar.
After dinner the students learned about service learning, which is a main component of the honors program at Stockton. All the students got to be a part of a service projects that the older students were running. One of the projects was making dog toys for a local shelter, and another was making care packages for homeless people. After finishing each project the students were a part of a reflection session to go over what was accomplished in each project.
Later on that evening all the students went to a “Whose Line ” show preformed by the theater club. This show is an improv show and all the actors, who are students at Stockton, were extremely funny and would pick random students from the audience to be a part of the show. After the show was over it was time to go back to our rooms and get ready for orientation the next day.
The overall experience was a success in my mind. It helped to introduce important concepts of the honors program while incorporating fun activities. The honors program did a good job to keep the students entertained, and I would recommend it for other incoming freshmen in the honors program to attend.