On September 6, 2014, Stockton’s 11^th annual Day of Service, I went with a group of about twenty girls to South Jersey Horse Rescue. Having seen signs all around the campus for the event, I was eager to sign up to volunteer. When the day finally came, I woke up bright and early and prepared for a hard day of work helping whatever organization I ended up with. As I had already taken a look at the organizations that would be represented at the event, I was especially interested in South Jersey Horse Rescue, not only because I am very close with the woman who puts her heart and soul into the rescue, Ellen Strack, but also because it is imperative to help those gentle animals who suffer so in states of neglect and mistreatment.

After floating down the steps in the Campus Center to receive our t-shirts telling of our participation in the event, eating breakfast, and filling out a short waiver, we made our way to the event room. I quickly found SJHR’s table, and despite not recognizing any of the people sat there, I had a seat and introduced myself. These fresh and friendly faces would become more familiar as the day went on, but in that room we were still unsure of what was in store, and certainly none of us could have imagined just how much we would be doing for the people and horses we met at the rescue.

After arriving at the site, we were greeted by an exasperated and jolly Ellen bearing a checklist to be completed. The friendly sharpie on the orange poster board spelled out tasks ranging from relocating a tent that had sheltered a horse brought to the rescue only a few weeks before whose body was completely emaciated—scoring 1 on the horse body scale—who died there shortly thereafter, to replacing plastic insulators on the electric fence that keeps the horses from wandering away , to shoveling horse manure into empty feed bags to garner donations from local residents who fertilize their gardens with it, to sorting through trash, left from a huge fundraising concert Ellen had hosted, for recyclables and cans. She appeared a bit disheartened at the lack of male muscle-power present, but our group of strong women put all of our hearts into helping Ellen and by two o’clock, all of the tasks she had set out had been completed. Even our bus driver, Ray, helped massively by fixing Ellen’s broken lawn mower just enough to be able to mow the entire property before it broke down again, this time, for good. It was an extremely hot day, but having the horses as well as so many positive, hard-working people around all the time gave us the strength to power through the hours we spent there.

Personally, I feel this is definitely an organization I would help again, after seeing first hand just how much Ellen gives to her horses, and seeing the massive amount of work that goes into keeping the rescue running smoothly and helping as many horses as possible. Despite the lack of glamour in the tasks on our plate, we finished essential jobs that would have taken their few regular volunteers so much time to complete. If such a large group of people went in to help the rescue on a more regular basis, it would be possible to give the horses even better care—all the brushing and riding they could ever ask for—and perhaps even expand the site to be able to facilitate more horses. In addition, this would increase awareness for this organization that should be given unlimited spending to help those gentle and mistreated creatures.

On November 18, I participated in a staged reading of two unpublished plays by William Carlos Williams, directed by Chelsea Regan. These plays were Betty Putnam, written first, but performed second, and Tituba’s Children. These plays deal with the Salem witch trials and cover similar ground to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, but they were written earlier.
Tituba’s Children begins with Giles Cory and Tituba on trial. Near the end of the play, the scene changes and half of the cast sheds their Puritan clothing to show modern dress. All of a sudden, the scene shifts to show people on trial for being communists during the “Red Scare.” Through this use of allegory, Williams shows that the creation of the “other,” an out-group that is ostracized, is a natural human instinct that shows itself throughout history.
In Betty Putnam, which he wrote first, he shows a very different opinion. He writes of a young girl who is threatened to be hung as a witch because she would not yield and marry a man as a plan that would mean her land would be taken from her to pay another man’s debt. In this play, he shows that the threat of witchcraft was used as a means to get what one wants. This is a very different view from in Tituba’s Children where witchcraft is seen as a very real threat. The fact that both plays show a different view on the same issue shows that William Carlos Williams had a change in thought over the years between when he wrote these plays. This is something that was discussed in the talk-back after the performance. Besides this, we talked about themes that showed up in the plays that ranged from the creation of the other to the reason why it is an often-used allegory to compare the Salem witch trials to the communism scare.
We, the cast, were joined by students in a class about witches, and some others who wished to watch the read-through of some great plays that have not seen the light of day for many years, probably since they were written. Being able to play Betty Putnam and Tituba allowed me to have a view into a time I personally have not thought about for years, a time period that has much significance in our nation’s history.

Not knowing what to expect, I walked into the audition room. I had my monologue in mind—something humorous about aliens and fried clams; it was perfect for a show as out-of-the-box as “Crumble (lay me down Justin Timberlake)”. I excitedly introduced myself to the near-stranger with dark curly hair and smiling eyes sitting at a small table behind a laptop. That is Kate Sparacio, president of the Stockton Theatre club. Years of auditioning for high school shows had prepared me for this much: the walking in, telling your name and what you would be reading, and the way you are supposed to fill the space with your body and your voice.

I didn’t go in with very high hopes. The cast of “Crumble” is small, five people in all, and only three of those characters are females. I thought being a freshman and a biology major would put me at an extreme disadvantage for being cast. With all this in mind, I straightened up and turned into Trudy, a bag lady who has become an assistant to aliens coming to Earth in search of signs of intelligent life. Forgetting a few of the words was no issue; Kate laughed—at the appropriate times—just the same. I finished, she told me thank you, and I left the room, giggling and full of adrenaline.

The wait for the call back list was agonizing. They promised it would be up shortly, so my friends and I waited patiently for that list of names to show up.

After twenty minutes, a hand peeked out the door and stuck the neatly typed list of names to the wall next to it. We all looked at each other, nervous and unsure, and slowly we flocked to the list. As soon as I stood up I could see my name—but of course I had to get closer to make sure; it was unreal. A part of me wanted to take a picture to savor the moment, to send to my family, to look at it later and congratulate myself when nobody else was around—when I wasn’t surrounded by people who had the title of both friend and enemy, all at once. But I didn’t. I reminded myself this was only the half of it. I made it through the first stage, but call backs are a whole other story.

Those of us who made it to the next step congratulated each other, and were handed sides from the show to read. At this point, the object is to show the director how well you can work with the other candidates for the roles, and how you play the part. The director goes into the audition with clear images in mind about each character, and she must find these characteristics in each person she sees. This is perhaps the most exciting and the most frustrating step. You get to read for any number of characters and with any number of people. Every new side is a new experience, a new mask to wear. Despite the apparent excitement in the nature of this activity, it can be a long and tedious process. The end result, however—seeing your name on that final cast list—makes it completely worthwhile.

More exciting than anything else will be actually performing in this production for my friends and family. However, the audition process is one I will not forget and one I will not hesitate to take part in again. With each audition I have, my skills as an actress improve, because of the inherent difficulty and stress that comes with such an event. Through it all, the positive and motivational people who journey with me make it an unbelievable experience.