Nube Airiana Munoz
The Honors Experience was an amazing event that was held on June 21st of 2015 at Stockton University. It was hosted by students of the Honors Program. The Honors Experience was an overnight event in which newcomers to the Honors Program could experience a glimpse of what it feels like to be a part of the Honors Program. New Honors students including myself arrived at Stockton on a Sunday morning excited to begin a day that promised to be worthwhile and would ultimately mark the beginning of a new chapter in our lives. After check-in parents and students had lunch together and listened to upperclassmen members of the Honors Program introduce themselves and speak about the different variety of clubs and organizations that they were currently involved with on campus. It was fantastic to find out about the countless clubs and organizations that Stockton had to offer so that students could participate in something they truly enjoyed while at the same time being able to get involved outside the classroom.
Then, it was time to say goodbye to our parents and head over to the first activity of the day, which was none other than Irish dancing. It was now time to meet other incoming Honors students and start to bond and get to know one another. Everyone sat in a circle, and we went around introducing ourselves and where we were from. Moments later an instructor showed us some steps of Irish dancing. We all were confused and without a doubt everyone or most of us messed up the steps, but we did it together and had some real fun. As the day went on we had some more fun when we started playing some icebreakers. One of the icebreakers we played was Ships and Sailors. It was a good time and so was playing volleyball together.
The night would eventually have to come to an end, but not before eating dinner together and participating in some service learning projects. All students helped make dog toys and care packages for kids that were less fortunate in the area. This provided Honors students with a sense of what it feels like to serve the community. Upon completion of the service projects there was a reflection session. During the session everybody discussed why we did those particular service projects and what we learned as a result of completing them. Everyone learned that they made a difference just by doing simple things. The event was now officially over, and everyone would have orientation in the morning, but the Honors Experience turned out to be a special day that would not be forgotten. The Honors Experience didn’t just introduce us to the program and new members; it introduced and welcomed us to our family away from home.