Lolla-No-Booza 2015 was held on Thursday, October 29^th from 7-11pm. This date was chosen specifically because the night before Halloween is typically the biggest drinking night of the year. This event is a way for college students to have fun without drinking or going to a party. Lolla-No-Booza was run by the Wellness Center and Drug and Alcohol Peer Education. Everyone was encouraged to come out to this event; it was even free to attend! Along with free admission there was promise of a DJ, free food, lots of games, and tons of prizes.

This year’s theme was Freak show due to the overwhelming popularity of the American Horror Story Freak show. When people first walked into the campus center event room they were instantly greeted but the sound of fun music and cool lights. Then, once people started to look around, they could see the variety of carnival games that were set up all throughout the event room. The games ranged from playing pong to riding a mechanical bull. There was definitely something that everyone would like. Some of the games at the event where typical drinking games. The games had a twist though, to teach the dangers and consequences of drinking. If someone won one of the games, they got their name on a ticket that was entered into a raffle. There were drawings for the raffle every thirty minutes. If their name was drawn from the raffle, they got to select a prize from a large table with a variety of options.

Overall, this event was a blast for everyone who came and it was educational. People left with more knowledge about drinking and its dangers. Some lucky people even got to leave with some great prizes. The night was a great success, and was an event that no one would ever forget.

Richard Stockton University welcome week is an amazing time for not just residential freshmen, but also the freshmen that commute. It is a wonderful time where not only do you get to bond with others and make countless new friends, but you also get to learn all about the different opportunities available, where everything is located on campus, and how it works. There were countless, different, mandatory events that the students were required to attend; however, one event was more memorable then all the rest. This event was the Warrior Champions movie.

It was an hour long movie that followed four different people who lost their limbs or function of their limbs in war. They all shared the similar goal of trying to make it to the Paralympics. Two of them were men who lost movement from the waist down. They were both throwers and amazingly both qualified to compete in the Paralympics. The one female had lost her leg. She was a swimmer and also qualified to compete. The final man had also lost one of his legs, but he was a runner. Sadly, he did not qualify to compete. Out of the three athletes who did go to the Paralympics, none of them medaled. Even though they didn’t win a medal, it was still an inspiration to see how they overcame major obstacles in their lives. It taught the lesson that nothing can stand in the way of anyone’s success.  It was very moving and even brought some to tears.

After the movie was over, they had us watch a shorter video. One of the soldiers in this video had been hit by a rocket. He lost his arm and had major damage to his abdomen. It was amazing to see how badly he was injured and then how he recovered and became skilled in martial arts. Then everyone was surprised to see that, when the video concluded, we actually got to talk to the man. It was inspirational hearing the challenges he had to go through and how he persevered. It proved the point of never letting life get you down and that you can overcome anything you put your mind to. Overall, this was by far the most memorable event at welcome week.

Bethany Cornatzer

McGovern

Life of the Mind

23 September 2015

Soar Blog

Stockton’s Outdoor Adventure Retreat is offered to incoming freshman. One of the perks of attending S.O.A.R. is that students get to move in early. This year’s early move in date was August 25^th. When students arrived on campus, they were greeted by a variety of talons wearing different color clothing and accessories. The students soon found out that each color represented a different tribe. After they were assigned their tribe, they could begin moving into their new rooms. Once people finished moving in, they could go have lunch with their parents. Then, everyone was gathered into their tribes. From there the talons had them load their bags onto the bus and head over to say a final goodbye to their loved ones. Next, all of the students were directed outside to do countless ice breakers so everyone could get to know each other. People instantly bonded over having similar majors or other interests in life. When everyone was acquainted they headed off on an hour long drive to camp Ockanickon.

One of the first camp activities this year was a thing called low elements. This is where the tribes split up and mixed with each other to do more ice breakers and team building activities. The game my group excelled at was passing a ball to someone and saying their name as fast as possible. We successfully completed the game in seven seconds! Not only did it unite everyone together, but it was a fun way for us to learn each other’s name. On the second day, everyone learned about leadership and how to get involved on campus. All of the talons told us about the many activities and clubs that they were a part of on campus. It showed students that there are always things to do and you never have to be alone.

Finally, on the last day of S.O.A.R., the students had the chance to do high ropes. This is a suspended obstacle course filled with tasks such as rope bridges and walking across a log. It was a really intimidating course but the students who did complete it felt a great sense of accomplishment.

When S.O.A.R. came to an end, everyone was sad to have to leave and say goodbye to camp Ockanickon. It was over in a blink of an eye and felt like they had just gotten there. However, the students were comforted by knowing that they made new friends and memories that would last for a lifetime. They were now truly ready to start their college experience.