On Wednesday September 16^th, in Wings B-I the Get Involved Fair took place. I was very excited for this event because I couldn’t wait to join clubs. I was overwhelmed by the amount of clubs that were represented there. The whole academic buildings were lined with tables and representatives of the clubs trying to get new students to join their club. As I walked through, I was interested in many clubs and ended up joining five. One thing I enjoyed was that there was a lot of freebies like candy, pens, and id holders! I was so excited because I never was in any club or organizations in high school because I played basketball and dedicated all my time to it. The Get Involved Fair was especially helpful to freshman because it helps them adjust to the college life and helps them know how to get involved on campus. The good things about the clubs are that there are ones that relate to almost every major and there are fun ones like S.E.T. and Stockton’s Disney Association. I joined the Occupational Therapy Club, Health Sciences Club, the Stockton Entertainment Team (S.E.T.), Stockton’s Disney Association, and Public Health Club. So far I have gone to all the meetings for each club except for Public Health Club, and I have enjoyed every one of them. I even helped out at the comedy show, which featured Carly Aquilino, on Friday October 9^th, for University Weekend. This event was run by S.E.T. which is a fun club and I would recommend anyone to join it. Overall I am glad that the Get Involved Fair was available to students because I wouldn’t know how to join the clubs if it wasn’t available.

The smell of the freshly cut grass, the sound of the rain hitting the umbrella, and the passionate crowd yelling and cheering. On a rainy September 10^th I, dressed in my best Stockton gear, headed to the soccer field to attend a Stockton University women’s soccer game against the Eagles of St. Joseph’s College Long Island. As I sat down on the wet bleachers waiting for the game to start, I was filled with excitement and anticipation. With the blow of the referee’s whistle the game began. The game was so exciting because I never knew if the Ospreys would score or if the Eagles would score, which kept me on the edge of my seat! After only nine minutes of scoreless play, the Ospreys scored! I remember the team celebrating the goal and cheering them on. I was ecstatic! After the goal they resumed play. After only nine more minutes they scored another goal! Again the team celebrated and everyone in the crowd cheered. They continued to play until the buzzer went off to signal halftime. As I sat there waiting for the second half to start, I talked to my friends about how the game was going so far and what I thought might happen in the second half. After the 15 minutes of halftime ended, the second half began. Although no goals were scored in the second half, it was still very exciting. Some shots were taken that were either saved by the goalie or just missed the goal. The best part was that Stockton won 2-0! Overall the game was a fun experience, and I am looking forward to attending many more. Go Ospreys!

Brittany Holmes

Lenard

Life of the Mind

14 September 2015

Blog #1

Now soar like an Osprey! I had the pleasure of attending the Student Outdoor Adventure Retreat (S.O.A.R.) the week before classes started.

On the morning of August 25^th I left home and drove to Stockton to formally move in to my dorm, so that I could attend S.O.A.R at Camp Ockanickon. All the new freshman students who were accepted and paid $250 for this unique program were put in different colored tribes. I was assigned to the “red” tribe. Tribes made it easier to keep track of the 238 students that attended S.O.A.R. I moved into my dorm and had lunch with my family. After lunch was finished, I was called to my tribe and we did many ice breakers and got to know each other. Then the T.A.L.O.N.S. which were assigned to each tribe told us to board the buses and we were off. After an hour or so of driving, we finally arrived at the camp. We gathered our belongings and were directed to the cabins we would be staying in for the next two nights.

The following morning, August 26^th, we woke up bright and early and ate breakfast which started the day. Let the activities begin! My red tribe started off with an activity that was called “Low Elements.” This was not just one activity, but multiple activities that were designed for team building. One activity was called “Lava Rocks” where we had to get a group of 14 people from point A to point B by using only seven small carpets. There were certain rules; for example, someone always had to have a body part on the carpet or else it would be taken away. Another rule was that we couldn’t touch the ground, or what was called the “lava” or we would have to start over again. My group was able to get everyone across the “lava” successfully! The second part of the day we went to a presentation on the many different ways that a student could get involved on campus.

On the third and final day we woke up early and started our day. The first activity was a board game called “Keep it Real” that was designed to get to know people I played the game with. I enjoyed this game because we got to really know the people we were playing with a little better than just knowing their favorite color. I got to know if they have ever experienced someone being racist, how they felt about certain topics like bullying, and what they feel most strongly about in their life. After we finished all the morning activities, we ate lunch, and then we continued on to the next and final activity, the high ropes course. The high ropes course was a course in which I climbed up a wooden pole and walked across to the other side and then came back, and it also had a rock climbing wall. That was not my favorite, it was scary.

When it was time to pack up and leave I was excited to start the school year, but also sad I had to leave Camp Ockanickon because I had so much fun with everyone. S.O.A.R. was a great experience, I made tons of new friends, experienced many fun activities, and did things outside of my comfort zone. I am glad that I got to participate in S.O.A.R. and would recommend it to any incoming freshman!