Prior to arriving at Stockton University, I always had an interest in participating in community service. Whether it be through clubs, sports teams, or just organizing events on my own, I loved finding ways to help in my community and beyond. So when I heard that the Honors Program here has a community service requirement, I was excited rather than concerned. I just had to find some good ways to give back to the community while at college. Because we were not yet introduced to any of the clubs here, the Day of Service was the perfect first opportunity to get involved in service activities at Stockton.

My friends and I showed our dedication to this event by making the huge sacrifice of not sleeping in on one of our Saturday mornings. However, the event members knew that they were dealing with tired, hungry college students and were kind enough to provide us with coffee and breakfast. Once we were adequately fueled for the day, everyone made their way to the event room. In there, the event leaders gave us instructions and information about each service activity. When it was finally time to begin, we broke into four large groups and went to our first assigned station.

My group’s journey began in the event room, where there were many tables set up with projects for different causes. There were activities such as sewing pillows, decorating cards, and making coloring books.  I ended up going to a table that made paracord bracelets for military members. Learning to make the bracelets with a new group of people was a fun bonding activity, and was rewarding to know that it was for a good cause. Before we knew it, our time in the event room was done, so we continued to our next location.

The second stop was in the coffeehouse, where there were projects to help raise awareness for suicide prevention. There was the option to make buttons, paint rocks, or make ribbons to help write positive messages and prevent suicide. I decided to sit at the rock-painting table, where they told us to write happy messages or decorate them in a positive way. When we finished the rocks, they spread them around campus to add little positive moments to everyone’s day. I really loved this station, because not only was it fun to decorate rocks and meet new people, but now every time I see one of those rocks, it makes my day a little brighter. I love thinking that something that small can improve someone’s day. We finished our rocks, and soon enough it was time to eat lunch and move onto the next task.

This third project was not only impactful, but very fashionable for us volunteers. As soon as we arrived, we received bright red hair nets and gloves to prepare to handle food. This event was to package food for families in need. We all broke up into stations to collectively make thousands of measured bags of meals. You would not expect that doing a repetitive task for an hour would be enjoyable, but this project was so much fun for everyone. We had an effective assembly line going, and had catchy music keeping us entertained the entire time. We ended up packaging so many meals, and it was so fulfilling.

The final portion of the Day of Service was a civics lesson in  F-Wing. The event leaders for this section asked us controversial questions and made us publicly answer them. They also had citizenship tests and voting registration available for the students to see. I did not enjoy this portion of the day and felt that it was not community service, which was the entire point of the event. However, this too eventually came to a conclusion and we all migrated back to the event room to reconvene as a whole group.

Overall, the Day of Service was an amazing experience. Even though it was an Honors requirement, I know that I definitely would have done it by choice anyway. It was a great way to become more involved, meet new people, and, most importantly, to give back to the community. I think it is a great idea that Stockton continues to do this event each year, and I would recommend that anyone else here participates in it in the future.