To start my Homecoming weekend off right I went to the showing of “Monster’s University” in the campus center on Thursday October 3, 2013. Although I narrowly missed winning the Wawa gift card I wanted, I had a great time watching the movie and sitting with some of the girls from my floor. Little did I know it was the start to hectic and crazy weekend.

Friday began as just another normal day for me. I woke up. Got breakfast. Went to class. Got lunch. Went back to my dorm. But, at 4:30, my floor mates and I walked over to see the Homecoming parade. The weather felt like summer and we sat in the grass right by the judges’ table. As the different clubs and organizations went by we got lots of handouts that included candy (which I particularly enjoyed) and invitations to their meetings. All of the golf carts were beautifully decorated and all showed off the groups’ personalities. A club I had just joined, the American Sign Language Club, had (in my humble opinion) one of the best floats, connecting sign language to the theme of the weekend, Stocktonopoly. Afterwards we all rushed over to the pep rally.

I must be honest- I did not expect such a pepped up pep rally. All of the students and faculty were so excited for Homecoming weekend and had so much school spirit. All of the sports teams were introduced, along with their collective many championships won. Many fraternities and sororities made appearances at the pep rally as did many clubs. The dance team and the cheerleading squad both performed. The ASL club did an amazing performance of “Roar” by Katy Perry in sign language that absolutely stunned the crowd. After the crowd was all excited, we all went in to get our free Stocktonopoly t-shirts and the bonfire began. The bonfire was huge, and it lit up the entire freshman quad. My friends and I were disappointed that we could not roast marshmallows or make smores on the fire. We couldn’t get close enough to the fire to do that even if we had really wanted to.

The big events all happened Saturday- the carnival and then the dance. My parents and younger brother came down for the day, and I loved spending time with them. My brother made me do all the blow-up obstacle courses with him and mocked me because I was slower than him. It’s worth mentioning that he is ten and it was way easier for him to manage the obstacle courses than it was for me. My parents took us out to my favorite restaurant Applebee’s for dinner, and it was amazing to have a real, off-campus meal for the first time in almost a month. After dinner we said our goodbyes so I could get ready for the dance.

My entire floor was in a frenzy getting ready for the dance, making sure our hair and makeup were perfect. We took floor pictures with our wood cutout of Gloria from “Madagascar” in the common room, which resulted in us being late to the dance. By the time we got there everything was already underway, and the party was pumping. I personally took off my heels as soon as we walked through the door and headed straight for the dance floor. Shortly thereafter my group of friends and I had formed a rather large circle on the dance floor and were having a blast (our song “The Fox” even came on). I danced the night away with my girls and I couldn’t have asked for a better freshman Homecoming dance. What a way to kick off my college experience.

Overall my first Homecoming weekend here at Stockton was full of fun, laughter, family, friendship and good food. I can absolutely not wait until next year!

For weeks, GT has been telling us about Mary Roach and her amazing sense of humor. She assured us that, although we didn’t understand the humor in Spook very well, we would be able to understand it more after hearing Roach speak in person. While we were discussing the book in class, GT encouraged us to write down any questions we had for Roach as we would get to ask them at convocation. As the weeks went on and we continued discussing Spook, I did not think that anything could make me understand Roach’s humor in the book and nothing ever would.

Upon arriving at the convocation on Thursday, September 26th, I was a little saddened as I would most likely have to leave early and miss the question and answer portion of the event because I had another class to run to at six. To make my leaving worse, the student helpers sat me in the front row, where my leaving would be even more apparent. The lights finally dimmed at four forty five, and I saw GT walk out onto the stage, all smiles as she introduced her favorite author (after giving her class a shout out of course). Several people came out to speak about Roach and her amazing qualities, including the student senate president and the president of the college.

Finally, Mary Roach herself stepped out onto the stage. She was exactly what I had imagined- nicely dressed but relaxed. She opened up with humor about Stockton and her experience staying here, and I immediately warmed up to her. She was not the same person she came across as in Spook. Instead of just simply talking about her book, she discussed curiosity. Roach told us flat out that she was a curious person and that was the main reason she wrote Spook and all her books. She formed questions in her mind and had the initiative to go out and find the answers, while writing books about her findings.

Her humor came across greatly in person, just as GT said it would. At some points I would be feeling very serious as she talked about not being afraid to ask questions and find the answers. At other points in the event, I would be laughing hysterically as she discussed some of the weirder facts she came upon as she researched for Bonk, her book about sexual physiology. I found the way she spoke to be very similar to the way she wrote in her books. Although her humor might not come across in her writing, she makes it come alive when she speaks.

I ended up being able to stay for the questions and answers portion of the night and the crowd asked some pretty great questions that Roach was more than happy to answer whole heartedly for them. They asked about everything from her other books to her writing methods to her solutions for writing block. Looking back now I am surprised no one asked her about her travels around the globe! I was certainly curious about that but didn’t have time to ask the question at the time.

After answering many questions for the audience, Roach made her way outside of the PAC to sign books for students and faculty who wished to meet her and get her signature on the covers of their books. I, unfortunately, had to run to my next class and therefore could not have Roach sign my book, although I would’ve liked that. Overall, the freshman convocation was a wonderful event and Mary Roach certainly was an entertaining and interesting speaker. I think most people will agree that GT was right in telling us that Roach is a humorous and genuine author and speaker.

On November 19, 2013, there was a different kind of concert in Alton Auditorium. Instead of a concert where the performers sang, for the most part, the performers communicated in another language- sign language.

To open the concert, Stockton’s Stockapella sang “Demons” by Imagine Dragons and “Hurt” by Christina Aguilera while members of the American Sign Language Club signed along with the lyrics. After them, Stockton’s Stocktones sang “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” by The Police and “Let Your Heart Hold Fast” by Fort Atlantic. As an executive board member of the ASL Club, Rachael Wance interpreted the lyrics into sign language. Listening to the beautiful voices of Stockton’s acapella groups and seeing the emotion each performer put into their signing made the combination pretty movin

After the acapella groups performed with the ASL club members, there were many individual acts with people signing popular songs such as “Still Into You” by Paramore, “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus and “Love Somebody” by Maroon 5. Each signer performed in her own unique way and incorporated dance moves with the signing. The facial expressions that went along with each sign conveyed to the audience the feeling of the song. Sometimes they were over the top and funny, but other times they were painfully serious and added to the depth of the performance.

 Midway through the concert the executive board of the ASL club performed their popular rendition of “Roar” by Katy Perry that has been previously performed at homecoming and the Multicultural Music Festival. Members of the audience signed along with them, myself included. It was a great experience, and it really created a sense of closeness in the room. It made the concert so much more meaningful to everyone. It was an amazing moment to see a large portion of the audience signing “Roar” along with the performers. Everyone was laughing and smiling and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The closing song of the concert was “Raise Your Glass” by P!nk, and it was the perfect way to end the concert. The performers who signed the song were so sassy and were just having a genuine good time.

Overall, the Signing and Singing concert was a genuinely unique experience that I would recommend to anyone. Instead of clapping like at a concert with singing, we clapped as was appropriate to a sign language concert- in sign language. It may be silent but it has the same effect on the performers as does clapping out loud. It makes them feel surrounded by love and appreciation. I truly enjoyed the concert and cannot wait for the event next year.