Becky Paulikens

           On the night of September 16, hundreds of Stockton students gathered in the campus center to try to get a free fish. Arriving fifteen minutes early to the event was still too late; the line was already snaking around the room. Lucky for my roommate and me, we weren’t too far back in the line. After waiting for half an hour, the line still didn’t move. People began to feel anxious because they didn’t know if they were even going to get a fish (there were only 100 fish to give away). In order to remedy the situation, event leaders handed out empty fish tanks. If you received an empty tank, you were certainly receiving a fish. This allowed people to know if waiting in line was worth it. After another half hour passed, my roommate and I finally arrived at the front of the line. Our first task: place a green, plastic tree in the tank. Once secured, we filled up the bottom of the tank with multi-colored pebbles: blue, orange, green, and pink. Once settled, we moved onto the next station: decorating with tiny shells, the final touch.  After the base of our tank was to our liking, we were able to scoop out our own fish from a massive tank filled with so many goldfish. The gentleman handed the filled tank to a woman, who then placed the lid on the tank and told us how to care for our brand new house pet!

            Throughout this process, I began to take note of the atmosphere in the room. The event coordinators did a fantastic job at setting the mood for the event. The refreshments were all fish themed. There were plastic cups with goldfish crackers, blue Jello to represent water, gummy fish candy, and fried fish sticks. The location of the event had signs that displayed fish décor, with a variety of different colors. Personally, I felt the group hosted a successful event, and I thought it was such a pleasure to attend!