On November 8th, from 7:00p.m. to 12:00a.m. there was an Election Party in the board of trustees room in the Stockton University Campus Center. This event was open to all students, and showed live feed of the election results, while providing friendly competitions to win prizes and refreshments. At the party they had cake, pizza, popcorn, and drinks for students to snack on while watching the votes come in. In the meantime, students were also given the opportunity to guess the Electoral College results, in hopes of winning a cardboard cutout of one of the candidates. I had also attended the previous debate parties, and the turnout for this event was enormous compared to the previous events. I showed up a little late because I had a class right before and when I got to the board of trustees room it was hard to even find a seat!
At the event overall there was a very good energy. People were very invested in what history was being made right before their eyes. Donald Trump did much better in states that he was not projected to do as well in, such as Ohio. Hillary Clinton kept Virginia for the Democratic party, which was a big win for her, as well as winning California, which carries a staggering 55 electoral votes. Other states like Florida and Pennsylvania took a very long time to reveal the winners for, but Donald Trump ended up winning both of those states.
The whole results progress of the election was nail-biting for everyone in the room, no matter who they were there supporting. It went back and forth for hours, finally resulting in the victory of Donald Trump. The swing states gave him the victory that most people did not expect him to have. This came to the shock of many people, especially since the media made it seem like Hillary Clinton had an almost guaranteed victory. Going to this event was very worthwhile, because of the excitement it added to watching the results come in.

On Saturday, October 22nd S.A.V.E. (Stockton Action Volunteers for the Environment) travelled off campus to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge to volunteer in a litter cleanup event. Although the chilly weather and rain may have deterred some people, S.A.V.E. met in the Campus Center that morning at 7:45a.m. to drive to the refuge. When we arrived, there were little open parking spots showing that a whole community came together despite the fact that it was a rainy and dreary Saturday morning. Each group of people that arrived were given pickers, recycling and garbage bags/buckets, gloves, and a road to clean up and make beautiful again.

Although we were not given that much of an area to clean, (especially compared to other trash clean ups I have done in the past) we found a decent amount of items that belonged in a landfill or a recycling plant, rather than on the side of a road. S.A.V.E. did a very thorough job, cleaning up everything that they saw. Glass bottles, plastic, and paper trash were more of the common litter gathered. Among these common trash items, S.A.V.E. collected more unusual items such as two full paint cans and a tire.

When we finished, we brought everything we found back to the Wildlife Refuge to be disposed of properly. After that, the men and women running the event offered us hot coffee and light refreshments, which was very kind of them to do. They also gave out free sweatshirts for those who participated in the event.

Overall, this event was very rewarding. It is very important for people to take pride in their communities and the planet to keep it clean. Making a difference and volunteering is so worthwhile, and being apart of events like these are what make my day!

On Friday September 23rd, I went to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission with Stockon University’s Circle K Club. The Atlantic City Rescue Mission was founded in 1964, and today provides shelter, programs, and hot meals to homeless people in the area. They also provide meals to the general public suffering from poverty.
On my way there with three other girls from Circle K, I wasn’t very sure what to expect. It was my first time volunteering at a homeless shelter. When we got inside the Atlantic City Rescue Mission, I was immediately impressed. The staff was extremely welcoming and put us to work right away. They started us off by having us make a salad to go along with dinner that night. Two of us cut peppers, and the other two cut up lettuce. It was the biggest salad bowl I had ever seen! Once we were done preparing the salad, we were sent up to the front of the kitchen to get ready to serve meals.
Dinner that Friday night was rice, chicken, and gravy. Along with this was our salad sides. The Rescue Mission also had pastries and other snacks for the tenants and general public to grab as well. We made the plates together, in an assembly line fashion. First, the male residents were served, then the female residents, and then dinner was open to the general public.
One thing that stood out to me were the miss matched plates and bowls the meals were served on. All of the different dishes donated just showed to me how many people put this amazing center together and contributed to helping feed so many people. Stockton’s participation at the Atlantic City Rescue Mission is something that I am looking forward to doing again!