On September 20th, I attended the ‘Get Involved Fair’ hosted in the academic building, on campus. This event also took place the next day with the same clubs and greek societies. I was looking forward to joining many clubs, being active on campus, and meeting new people. I met up with my friends around 11:00 AM and we all walked to the start of what seemed like a chain of a thousand tables. Anime, quidditch, or neuroscience- I found these clubs particularly unique; however, the club I most connected with was the Global Health Team. The president, Francesca, was very friendly and explained the club’s mission. I enjoy helping others, and I aspire to travel to new places so this club really appealed to me. Other than this club, I also found the Animal Friendly Organization interesting. I have a passion for animals and the organization often volunteers at local animal shelters, so I wanted to be part of the fun! I noticed that they do fundraisers and donate to animal shelters as well, I look forward to making a noteworthy cause in this club. Another club that I signed up for was the Latin American Student Association. I joined this club not only because I’m Hispanic, but also because they have fun events and interesting meetings. In an upcoming meeting they will be discussing the Hispanic culture, such as parenting and growing up compared to other cultures. Throughout the Get Involved Fair session, I was able to meet leaders and other freshmen who were interested in clubs, like me.

This past Monday, September 26, Stockton’s Office of Service Learning hosted their first “Presidential Debate Watching Party” in the Board of Trustees room. It provided a fun atmosphere for anyone interested in politics and the upcoming election to gather together and hear what the two candidates had to say.

The Office of Service Learning did an excellent job setting up the event. They provided popcorn and drinks, and had round tables set up to help foster discussion among attendees before the debate started. There was even a separate screen off to the side which displayed live tweets about the debate- a useful tool which showed immediate responses from all over the world as things began to get heated. In addition, they created bingo cards, which included phrases such as “only I can do it” and “tax returns” (What prize did the winners receive? Presidential Pez Dispensers!). Personally, this was my favorite part of the night, as it encouraged attendees to listen carefully to the rhetoric of each candidate.

Coming from a high school where nearly everyone fell on the same side of the political spectrum, I found it refreshing to hear and see students supporting both candidates. I believe that hearing both sides is very important in a healthy discussion, which is why the only thing that I would suggest adding to future events is a more formal discussion/analysis after the debate ends. Some students stayed for a few minutes to discuss with their friends, but I think it would be beneficial for everyone to hear from students with different backgrounds and consider the arguments of those with contrasting political views. Overall, however, I found it to be a great experience, and I look forward to the next debate!

The Day of Service was an opportunity for Stockton students and faculty to engage in service projects. After intense card games and quarts of Chinese food, sleeping for five hours the night before was probably not the brightest idea. However, the morning of the event while walking to the campus center I was invited by the sweet display of free food. This was a perfect start for a 10^th of September morning as I walk into a small room to learn how to perform hands-on CPR. This experience was not the exciting at all. Especially after ending the session 45 minutes early. Nonetheless, I acquired the power of CPR in my very hands and walked out ready to save the world one pump at a time. After the vigorous training, I delighted myself to another blessing, free water! Hydrate or die-drate as they say. Anyways, while waiting for our next event I encountered a friend of mine who was unaware of the service project. With careful persuasion I approached Paul and said, “Hey you should join in!”. To my surprise, he replied in agreement as a recruited member for our next event, food packing extravaganza.

We arrived at our next arena with our assembled five-person team of Paul, Jess, Elyse, Emily and Me. Our unstoppable crew banded together with a handful of other teams and fought world hunger together which was sponsored by Stop Hunger Now. This experience felt very unique. Going back to the land of the East, a gong was struck for every thousand bags we created. This, the blasting music, and mini dance party our crew created was just the right amount of incentive to fill bags chock filled with delicious minerals, vegetables, soy and rice. Saving the world from hunger was pretty cool too. Later on during the hour of packing, the sound of thunder roared twelve times. Twelve-thousand bags were made to feed someone who wouldn’t have eaten without this package. This helped me realize how much working together can impact the world, even if I was just putting a vitamin packet into a bag.

Finally, we ended our event with handmade coloring books for the kids at Saint Jude’s hospital. With our utmost efficient Ford-style assembly line, we constructed over thirty books! Never again shall Spiderman or Mike Wazowski be left uncolored. Our last service was followed by a reflection session in which we discussed the impact our day of service had on us. Although a third of our day was spent on volunteering, those hours flew by quick. The projects held were unique and interesting. Ranging from book organizing, peanut butter and jelly sandwich-making, as well as a variety of self-awareness sessions, this one-semester event opened my eyes to the change that anyone can accomplish.

       September 10th, 2016 was a monumental day.  To Stockton University, it was the annual Day of Service, but for me, it was the first official day of being a Stockton student.  Stockton is a school big on giving back not only to local communities, but national communities as well, and that was one of the reasons why I picked Stockton to be my four-year home.  Helping others in need is something very important to me, and to be a part of a family that prides itself in caring for others is something wonderful and something to be proud of.  

       At the Day of Service, I participated in packaging food to send overseas.  We had to measure rice, dried vegetables, and soy to be put in bags and then compressed to be shipped.  Together, Stockton students packed up thousands of meals in the eight hours the Day of Service ran for, which was incredible!  Together, in a day, Stockton students helped give thousands of hungry families food that they did not have access to before.  Together, Stockton students helped decrease the amount of people living in hunger in the world.

       Another thing I participated in was the making of coloring books for children in cancer hospitals.  We had to first collect pages of colorless cartoons and construction paper.  Then we had to bind the pages all together to form a book.  Afterwards, we had to design the covers.  I made about ten, a majority of them in Spanish, for children that cannot speak English.  I thought it might make a Spanish-speaking child happy to see a coloring book with their language on the covers.  I know it would be comforting to me to see the language I spoke best if I did not speak English well.  

       This Day of Service was something special, and I think it’s great that it exists.  It made me feel important, like I had an impact on the world and well-being of others, even if that impact was not very big.  I feel proud to be a part of an institution that promotes service and volunteerism for the betterment of the world around us.  I hope that others saw this day as something momentous, as I did.  In a world where some people are struggling, I think it is important to lend a helping hand whenever possible.  I am a big believer that if an act of kindness is executed, it will create a butterfly effect that could reach very far.  

       Hopefully, this Day of Service had an effect on the lives of others for the better, and people now recognize the importance of being an active citizen in the community and the world.  Thank you, Stockton, for being so selfless and allowing me to be a part of the family.  I’m very excited for what the next four years have in store for me.
     

The debate-watching party was an experience that I’m glad I didn’t miss. Truthfully, I had been anticipating this event since the beginning of the year, and I would have gone whether or not it was a course requirement to go to an event. I have no regrets about going. Some people might think I’d have rather been at a student-hosted debate party with drinking involved, but I scientifically may have died from alcohol poisoning if I had “taken a shot” every time Donald Trump said “China.”
The party gathered at 8PM in the Board of Trustees room, even though the debate started at 9PM. I was beyond excited, and for me that hour couldn’t go faster. This, for me, was the first presidential debate where I considered myself educated enough to largely keep up. I went into this knowing the meaning of acronyms like TPP and NAFTA. A young woman handed me a bingo board with instructions to mark a spot on it whenever the word on the spot was said. Among the words were “terrorism,” “Mexico,” “Obama,” “NAFTA,” and “emails.” There was popcorn out on a table, along with refreshments. I grabbed my popcorn and took my seat among my excitedly chattering peers.
The debate began and the lights went down. People (including me) gasped in excitement as the candidates walked out and laughed as they shook hands cordially. It was hilarious; they didn’t even look as though they wanted to tear each other to shreds. Worry not, they did that later – with their words. With every Trump interruption, a collective laugh resounded in the room. With every snide comment, people OOHed and AAHed and laughed and BOOed. The peanut gallery served as good company; they weren’t so loud as to make it hard to hear the debate. Best of all, I was part of it. There I was, OOHing and AAHing right along, excitedly marking my bingo board. I did not win, but it was an incredibly enjoyable event, and as the debate came to a close I found myself wishing there was more.

On September 15, 2016, I attended a panel of students who worked at the July 25-28 Democratic National Convention in Philly and the July 18-20 Republican National Convention In Cleveland. Each of the students were assigned jobs to help run the convention.

Two of the convention’s attendees were part of the checking committee where they would verify visitor’s access passes to see if they were allowed into the convention center.  One of the students said this job could get hectic as some guests didn’t have proper seats. Two of the students worked with news networks including an independent association known as free speech TV, and CNN.  Free speech TV enables students to communicate stories without censorship.  By attending these conventions, the students were able to see beyond the media’s perspective of the presidential campaign. One student was able to meet Corey Booker and Mayor Nutter and an additional student had the opportunity to meet Ben Carson, Donald Trump, and  the Trump children.  Another student worked for the shuttle service at the hotel Trump was staying at.  He mentioned how politicians would, “Call saying they needed to be somewhere five minutes ago even though the place they need to be at is twenty minutes away.”  They each worked very hard while at the convention and were grateful for the free drinks and food at the end of their 15-17 hour days.

It was stated by a member of the panel how the role of conventions, historically, are losing their usefulness.  Due to the advertisement of parties, money is being wasted meanwhile the 3rd party candidates such as Jill Stein and Gary Johnson do not have the opportunity of an organized convention. One of the students mentioned, “The conventions are meant to draw in those on the fence and rally those that are committed.”  They also spoke about how there is much more going on, on the convention floor that is not presented to big news networks.  It was declared repeatedly how young citizens should get involved in politics to at least listen to what the politicians have to say regarding our nation.  Our votes still do matter despite the fact that the electoral college has the upper hand.

Diana Sanchez Zevallos

The Stockton Delegation was a panel of students who attended 12-day seminars. This one-time event took place on September 15, 2016.  Five of them went to the democratic convention and two students went to the republican convention. Each student proceeded to speak about their personal experiences and the responsibilities they had to fulfill. Some students worked alongside news reporters and even got to take selfies with politicians! It was very difficult to get into the convention; therefore, some students where in charge of checking passes. One student had the opportunity to work alongside the CNN crew and interview some important people.
All throughout this panel I learned many interesting facts that I didn’t know prior to attending. I will admit that I’m not as politically aware as others. However, attending this panel shined a bit of light on the ambiguous topic of politics. First I learned that the reason that these conventions are held is primarily for advertisement. Each convention is like a get-together for the supporters of each party to meet up and rejoice in each other’s company. Another reason is to influence those that are in the neutral position to vote for their respected candidates. The dark side to these conventions according to one student is that a lot of the food is not donated afterwards. Millions of dollars are thrown at setting up these conventions which just seem like a bit of waste to me. Also, third-party candidates can’t afford these kind of conventions unless they are wealthy to begin with. Many of these third-party politicians actually attend either the DNC or RNC to promote their own party and ideas. Even when they are successful in gaining entrance, many big-time media platforms don’t even give them 2 minutes of air-time. Rather, news stations like CNN and NBC focus on the bigger profiles and have obvious bias. This makes it very difficult for third-party candidates to achieve anything when the democratic and republican party overshadow their efforts.
If you think these conventions are all rainbows and cupcakes, then you would be wrong. There is a lot of hostility in each convention, especially in the DNC. Multiple students spoke about their experience with protestors rudely chanting “Bernie Bernie Bernie!” while Hillary was trying to give her speech. Also, many of them were yelling profanities at Hillary all throughout her time being on stage. It just goes to show how strongly committed Hillary is for peacefully dealing with these protestors. There were many people kicked out and some had to be restrained. Before this panel I was already aware of the divide between the Hilary supporters and the Bernie supporters although I didn’t think it was that chaotic. On the other hand, the RNC was described as peaceful with good vibes all through out. However, Ted Cruz did get some hostility thrown at him because he apparently refuses to support Trump.
All in all, all the participating students seemed grateful and delighted to have gotten that opportunity. Many of them spoke with such passion and expressed themselves well. I had a wonderful time listening to their interesting experiences. In the future, I would love to attend one of these conventions because I don’t have a clear-cut favorite so I would attend to learn more about their future plans and ideas. Even if I come across ideas that I don’t necessarily agree with, it’s good to be exposed to individuals that have different ways of seeing things so I don’t stay myopic about certain topics

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Jessica Bolich

On Monday, September 26, the first of three presidential debates was held at Hofstra University, in New York. This event was broadcast live, and record numbers tuned in to view it, including many students of Stockton University. We gathered in the Board of Trustees room to attend the first debate watching party, which was sponsored by the Stockton Political Engagement Project. The party included refreshments and a debate-themed bingo game.

The format of the debate was one in which the two candidates were asked specific questions by a moderator in front of a live audience. They were given two minutes each to answer the questions and also had the option to comment on each other’s answers. The questions were divided into three categories: Achieving Prosperity, The Direction of America, and Securing America. Both candidates expressed their views on the different topics that were brought up during the debate. These topics ranged from why the candidates thought that they were better suited for the presidency to Secretary Clinton’s emails and Donald Trump’s tax returns.

The debate started a few minutes late and both candidates had times where they continued to speak beyond the two-minute time limit. Audience members also continued to make noise despite instructions to stay quiet. Viewers also noted the not-so-subtle jabs that the candidates made at each other. These included Donald Trump blaming Hillary Clinton for a myriad of things, and Secretary Clinton telling Trump that he lives in his own world. The candidates also took the debate as an opportunity to promote their individual websites, complete with fact checkers.

For students who were unable to attend the debate on the 26^th but are interested in the current election, there are three more debate watching parties in the future that all are welcome to attend.