On April 8, 2013, the Honors: Global Community class was lucky enough to sit in on another lecture from an esteemed speaker. Instead of ecocriticism, this lecture focused on a different, yet somewhat similar topic. Christine Brady, a engineering graduate from Princeton joined us in class to talk about a truly inspiring project that she has given life to.

Christine Brady founded the Americas Foundation, an organization that aims to give aid to disadvantaged yet remarkably talented children. This program assists children who come from poor families and communities, and attempts to help them realize their real potential. Christine formed this organization after going to Tijuana, Mexico and seeing the devastating poverty in the area.

Tijuana is located in West Mexico, and is directly on the border of San Diego, California. It is often known as the city of children, since 75% of the population is under the age of 25. 80% of the population live below the poverty line, and it is in competition for having the lowest wages in the world.

The most amazing part of Christine Brady’s lecture was the hope –  La Esperanza – that she has given the community. She has built an incredible elementary school and is in the process of building a high school and chapel for children that are on either full scholarship or partial scholarship. She showed us pictures of school plays and dance recitals that the children have done and it showed how absolutely appreciated her work is to the children and parents. I was very glad she came in to speak with us, and I would love to try and help with the project any way that I can!

I’ve been lucky enough to be working in the Stockton Grant’s office since October of last semester. It’s been a great learning experience in an even greater environment! My job consists of mostly mundane office jobs such as scanning, filing, delivering/retrieving documents and organizing. However, once a year the Grants office is in charge of a huge research presentation called the Day of Scholarship.

The Day of Scholarship is a day where professors and student present their hard work and research that have been funded for more support through Grants. It’s a really big deal, in my opinion, to be awarded support through the college to continue research! The day consisted of a breakfast and speech from the President, then poster presentations in the event room, then presentations across campus, a very nice lunch in the board of trustees room, and more presentation in the afternoon. The day lasted from 8:30am-4:30pm, and as I volunteered the entire time, I was able to experience the entirety of the work the women at grants put into the day. It was a lot of work not only by the presenters, but also by the conductors of the actual event.

I really enjoyed volunteering at the Day of Scholarship, and I plan on attending and possibly even presenting at the event in years to come! It’s a great privilege to have your research supported by the college, and a greater experience to be able to present that research to the ones that helped you get there!

Last month, I was able to go to a very interesting lecture during my Honors:Global Community class. At first, I was mostly excited to go because it meant a different setting for class – a whole class period not taking place in the same enclosed classroom. After the lecture however, I was intrigued by the whole topic.

The topic of the lecture was ecocriticism. Ecocriticism is the critical approach that considers the relations between literature and the environment. Basically, it deals with any literature that uses nature. I’ve loved to write since I was very young, and I still dream about being an author one day. Nature is something I’ve always loved as well and Earth Day was always my favorite holiday! To combine two of my favorite things, it would be a great feat if I wasn’t immediately hooked.

I remember learning about the transcendentalists in 11th grade, and I remember wondering why we didn’t spend longer on the topic since Emerson was so enchanting in his language. They way that Emerson and Thoreau spoke in their own experiences with the beauty of nature was so interesting. Ecocriticism is so much like transcendentalism, however ecocriticism is defined as the revaluation of the latter.

Eco Critics attempt to read texts with attention to the presence of natural elements- not as symbolic projections of the human psyche. In other words, ecocritics want to create more awareness of nature, instead of just using nature as metaphors and similes. They attempt to connect everything and everyone to nature.

Although we went to the lecture for Global Community, I felt as though I came back from the lecture a lot more informed than I thought I would be. I’m genuinely interested in ecocriticism now! I’m not sure if I would go into a career related to it, however it would be a great past time or research area! I’m really glad I went.

Clubs are always a fun way to do new things, embrace new hobbies, and make new friends and one of the newest additions to the club mix here at Stockton is the Richard Stockton College Model United Nations! Model UN is often offered as an extracurricular at many high schools and colleges across the nation and much like the official UN, model UN focuses on learning and living the cultures and views of other countries when debating issues at conferences.

For these conferences, each model UN is assigned a country to represent. They are then put to the task of researching all they can on that country’s view on several topics. This research will be presented as arguments at conferences, where the team will represent not their own opinions, but the opinions of their assigned country. However, model UN doesn’t solely focus on just debating and public speaking, it also brings in new knowledge of different cultures, lifestyles, and world matters from perspectives much different from those here in the United States.

Like other Model UNs across the nation, the Richard Stockton Model UN, will be participating in a few conferences. The first conference we will be participating in will take place in Washington, D.C. next fall in October. In addition to D.C., possible conferences the Model UN hopes to join take place in NYC and the Galapagos Islands!

Although you might think that Model UN is just another new club, it’s also an exciting experience with new cultures and lifestyles on a professional stage. Not only is the Model UN stage great for working on public speaking and debating, it also is a great opportunity if you’re interested in international affairs, new cultures, and traveling!

I’m really excited to be joining this club, even thought the conferences won’t start until next semester. Being apart of something from the very beginning is also a great plus! I’m glad I stopped by the table during the Get Involved Fair!

On February 22, 2013, the second ever Stockton Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Induction took place. The Induction was held in the Campus Center Event room, and was equipped with delicious food and dessert for the many inductees.

Alpha Lambda Delta is a national honors program for freshmen with high GPAs  and academic standing and has accepted more than 100 students at Stockton since 2012. It was a great honor being one of the members inducted this semester!

The induction itself was great, starting off with the eboard introductions and speeches and followed by a performance by the Stockton Acapella group. The oath and certificate pick-ups then took place, as we were free to get food.  Although the induction itself was great, one of my favorite parts of being inducted was being able to see more of my friends. Because I don’t live on campus, I know I often miss out on seeing friends from classes and activities, however I was able to catch-up and talk with friends I hadn’t seen since the fall semester!

Overall, the induction was fun, simple, and great. I was very happy to be welcomed into a program such as ALD, and will be looking forward to planned events in the future!