On Sunday October 12th the Stockton Quidditch club held a Hero’s vs Villains homecoming tournament. This event is held every year for Stockton’s homecoming weekend and is open for the public to view and even participate in. The purpose of the event was to help promote the club and the sport while also raising money by selling fun tee shirts. This event was effective at promoting Quidditch as a fun and accepting game and it even raised a good deal of money for tee shirt sales. The event was ran by seasoned Quidditch players split into two teams, the hero’s and the villains. The hero’s wore white and the villains wore black and both had the names of a famous hero or villain embroidered across the back of the player’s shirts, i.e. Iron man and Darth Vader. The game was fast paced, action packed, humorous and, most importantly, fun both to watch and play. Even audience members got involved and were taught how to play by the Quidditch club members. At the end of the day people left with a better appreciation and understanding for the game of Quidditch. I went to this event because I am a member of the organization, and went to it as a formality, but I was pleasantly surprised and genuinely had a good time. My favorite part about the whole experience however was seeing all the other fellow Harry Potter fans dressed up and supporting the event. It was a crowd full of geeks and I couldn’t feel more at home. Another part of the event that will stick with me was when members of the audience were asked if they wanted to play. The reason why was that I got to see kids hop on a broom stick and run around watching their faces light up, even if for just a moment, as if they were actually in the magical world of Harry Potter. After attending this event I most certainly will be returning next year and hopefully be playing in it as well. At the end of the day I left the pitch with a cool new tee shirt and smile on my face.

This past Tuesday I attended The Stockton Scholarship Recognition Dinner. This prestigious event allows all those who are awarded scholarships to meet and have dinner with the donors behind their financial aid. The event took place in the campus center event room from 530pm to 830pm. Upon entering each guest was given a name tag and assigned a seat at one of 38 tables. The guests sitting at each table varied between students, donors, and faculty. The food was served buffet style and was very delicious, but as good as the main course was the desert was even tastier. However before the food was served, Stockton’s president gave a very motivating and moving speech that gave students and donors further incentive to work hard and donate. After the main course each Dean of Stockton’s different schools of study came up and introduced the recipient of that schools scholarship. The student recipients from each school then gave short speech about how valuable each scholarship is to them and the many accomplishments they have and are going to achieve with it. At the end of the night a big group photo was taken to commemorate the evening’s festivities and all those who attended this splendid occasion. This entire event was fun and humbling, as I got to see the many other students who worked far harder than I to receive Stockton’s many prestigious scholarships. The event also seemed to be an effective way to further secure the continuous and growing financial donation for Stockton’s scholarship program, from its many donors. Because the donors were able to sit down and talk with the scholarship recipients they were able to see to whom their money was going to and the incredible impact and aid it has given to the students. The donors could see just how important their donations are and that their money is not going to waste. The event, at least for me, gave students motivation to work harder and learn as much as they can, because they got to see just how valuable their scholarships are. All in all my fellow students and I enjoyed ourselves. The good food and good company made for a pleasant and memorable night.

This past Wednesday (9/17/14), Stockton held the Get Involved Fair, an event held every semester that showcases the many student run clubs and organizations at Stockton. I attended this event along with several other classmates. The event is designed to help students, primarily freshmen, get involved (as the name of the fair suggests) with the school by allowing them to find organizations that interest them.

Many of the clubs at this event are geared towards academics such as the Marine Science Club or the Stockton Biology Society. Some are geared towards community service, such as Circle K, and others are simply about having fun, like the Gaming Club or Quidditch Team. In addition to setting up creative and informative stands, clubs often give away free gifts and food to further sway students to join. Some clubs may also try a more aggressive approach to recruiting. One such approach is having a person run up and tell passerby’s face to face how great their program is and how perfect it would be for them to join. When this occurs, most of the time it is followed by a plea from the recruiters that play on the students’ heart strings. Since the students don’t want to hurt the recruiters’ feelings, they feel obligated to come to the organizations’ interest meeting.

All in all, I found the Get Involved Fair to be both informative and interesting. I joined 5 clubs and will be attending meetings throughout the week. This event definitely accomplished its goal of getting students involved, and I believe that every student should at least stop by one of these fairs. Something that I did find that could be improved on is that not all the clubs listed were actually at the event or some were only around for a short time. This makes students that couldn’t find the club have to find other means to contact them or else give up on joining it all together.

I found that the Get Involved Fair got me interested in things I would have never thought about joining. In a way, it kind of brought me out of my comfort zone and made me want to try new things. Because of the Get Involved Fair, I am joining the Quidditch Team, the Gaming Club, the Marine Science Club, the Deep Sea Fishing Club and I might even try to become an Ambassador. This event is a useful and engaging way for students to get involved and meet people with common interests.