When I decided to join Honors at Stockton, my main interest in the program was the ability to help my community. After being a Girl Scout for over twelve years, I knew I would need to take part in something that would allow me to continue the service that I completed within Girl Scouts and to keep that sense of teamwork and leadership. So far, the Honors Program has not let me down. A few weeks ago I spent a Saturday working with 400 other students at the Stockton University Fall Day of Service.
The Day of Service was an event that brought together multiple different volunteer organizations such as Rise Against Hunger, Books Without Borders, and Ronald McDonald House. As a volunteer I was separated into a group where I then rotated between several different service opportunities. These ranged from information sessions, to hands on work, to discussion sessions. Not only did these coincide with the requirements that I will have to complete later in Honors, they also were a great opportunity to find what kind of volunteer work I would be interested in continuing.
I was sorted into the Red group where our first activity was constructing simple three page coloring books and decorating them for an organization named Circle K. My friend Stephanie and I worked in a small group where we created around 20 coloring books and constructed extra so the next group was prepared. This kind of volunteer work was very familiar to what I was used to with Girl Scouts, helping my community in small ways that may seem easy to complete, but will change someone’s entire day.
The second event I took part in was a small information session on drug use and addiction. Hearing two different speakers discuss addiction and drug use, and how addiction is a disease was very impactful. They also discussed ways we could help those struggling with drug addiction such as a training course on Naloxone (Narcan), a drug to treat those who have overdosed, that will be held on October twelfth at Stockton.
The third volunteer activity was very hands on, our group helped take part in the goal of making 45,000 meals for those who have limited access to necessities such as food. I worked with four other Honors students and constructed the bags of rice, dried vegetables, bread and seasoning. Our group worked as part of a much larger team that together filled the bags, weighed them, and packaged them. This volunteer work is what stuck with me the most, being directly involved in the process of helping those in need. Much like making boxes of supplies for those in the military like I did with Scouts, the feeling of teamwork and the overall happy mood of so many people working together at a common goal is what I hope to continue to be a part of in my work within the Honors Program at Stockton. Together as a large community, everyone at the Day of Service reached the goal of making 45,000 meals, was given the ability to spread awareness on drug addiction, and helped numerous other organizations with their ambition to help the world around them.