The week of the semester that was dedicated to suicide prevention, was an interesting week. I enjoyed the speeches about suicide prevention and the events that were held for the cause. It was nice to see people speak up for what they believe in and have their voice be heard. One event that I really enjoyed was about suicide prevention where I listened to Jordan Burnhan from Active Minds, who spoke about his experience with suicide.

Before the event began, I thought that this man was going to talk about the general facts for suicide and spread the word about stopping this terrible act, but it was not like that at all. Jordan Burnhan was extremely sincere and he opened up to us about his past. He talked about his lifestyle and how he grew up as a child, and how that affected him emotionally and mentally. The terrible things that happened to him as a child, caused him to want to commit suicide, but luckily it was a failed attempt and he did not actually succeed at this terrible act.

During his speech, I looked around the room, and I noticed, by the look on my peers faces, that they were touched by this inspirational speech, as was I. Jordan Burnhan did an incredible job getting his point across because he made his speech enjoyable, which caused people to laugh and smile, but took him seriously when necessary.

The speech that Jordan Burnhan presented to his audience was a speech I will never forget. Jordan Burnham touched the lives of many that night and I hope to someday touch the lives as many as well.

I never thought that I would go to a college that has a farm. I did not know that Stockton had a farm until we were told in class that we were making a trip to the farm one day. To be honest, I was apprehensive about going because I do not like doing activities, such as farming. Although I was unsure about the trip to begin with, taking a field trip to the Stockton Farm was a great experience that I will never forget.

We were told that we had to plant garlic and I was not sure how I felt about it because I do not care for garlic. When the manager asked who wanted to plant the garlic, I made sure that I did not volunteer for that job because I cannot stand the smell. Instead, I raked the dirt so the ground was flat for the other students in my class to plant the garlic. Although my job was simple, it was still a lot of fun to work on the farm with my friends.

As the hour came to an end and we were finishing up our job, the managers asked us if we wanted to take a pepper with us, so everyone did. Some people decided to take a hot pepper and watching them eat the hot pepper was extremely funny because they did not realize how hot the pepper was going to be until it touched their tongue. Their facial expression after they ate the hot pepper was probably my favorite part of the whole trip to the farm. I decided not to put myself through that much pain, so instead I took a mild pepper which was surprisingly tasty.

Even though we were only on the farm for about an hour, it was an enjoyable experience and I learned a lot about farming. It is awesome that Stockton students can volunteer their time and work on the farm. Hopefully I will be able to make time in the future to visit the farm again and volunteer my time. It is always pleasurable volunteering my time for the better. I find joy in helping others and that is why I had fun at the farm with my class. Being on the farm changed my opinion of farming and I hope to someday revisit the Stockton Farm.

The Day of Service was a life-changing event that I will never forget. The fabulous day started at seven in the morning when a couple of my friends and I went to get breakfast before the event. During breakfast we talked about what project we wanted to do that day and we decided that doing a beach clean-up would be a lot of fun. We browsed the list of projects and came across, “The Shores of Wesley Manor”. The first thing that came to our minds was that this has to be a beach clean-up and that it would be fun going to the shore for the day. After signing up for this project we realized that it was not a beach clean-up but a senior center. Although what we thought of the project and what the project actually was ended up being very different, we still decided to go to the senior center because we also enjoy being around the elderly and helping others.

The Shores at Wesley Manor was a great experience. Spending the day with the elderly and keeping them company brought joy to my heart. As a volunteer there, we had to pack give away bags for the event that they were hosting the next day. This took the six volunteers about two hours to complete because of the amount of bags that we had to put together. When we completed that we were given the opportunity to spend time with the senior citizens. This was an amazing time, because we were able to bowl with them and talk to them. Watching the elderly bowl was a pleasant sight because this little task made them extremely happy, which made me smile. Seeing other people happy always brings joy to my life.

We wrapped up the day by cleaning up the outskirts of the building. We picked up all of the trash that was on their property and made sure The Shores of Wesley Manor was spotless. Although our task was so simple, it really made an impact on my life. Helping people is such a rewarding feeling even if it is a small offer and a simple task. It was nice getting to know the senior citizens and talking to them about life. I will never forget the women that I met that day.