On Thursday October 19^th, I went to the Stockton Student Senate’s first annual Stockton Democrats vs. Stockton Republicans Debate. Three students from each party debated current and New Jersey related topics, ranging from local energy sources, to gun control, and minimum wage. The debate was mediated by two senate members and had a very strict time form. Each side was given two minutes to address the topic, and then was allowed to converse back and forth in one-minute intervals, before the mediators called for the two-minute concluding statements.

The sides that debated held beliefs that were very similar and in line with the political parties that they represented. The Democrat side promoted liberal and humanitarian views while the Republicans often voiced conservative and traditional views. These views were quite apparent in each of the topics, as the Democrats often advised for options that would primarily help the people, and were best for the society, while the republicans often cited opinions that would benefit the economy or international structure.

The topics, though applicable to the state of the entire country, were presented through the eye piece of the State of New Jersey. This was incredibly poignant, especially for a non-New Jersey native such as I, to understand the political climate of the state as they pertain to the specific topics. The issue of New Jerseys power dependency, and the origin of the power were discussed, the minimum wage and its impact on NJ were explored, gun control laws in the state in the wake of yet another tragedy, and the possibilities of free community college were all discussed as well.

These topics and discussions, especially in accessible and public forms, such as this debate are important to understand the view of our political equals, and form a more educated and grounded personally philosophy in the bipartisan arena that we all influence. It is even more important for these events to be held for the young adults of the nation, for our generation is the one that will inherit the system in just a few short years.

The regimented formats of the debates kept the discussion civil, informative and constructive. When the debaters became more excited than was preferable the mediators were able to step in and provide an unbiased middle man to bring the discussion back to an informative tone. This happened a few times, and while, the mediator stepped in, the debaters responded in kind, keeping a passionate, but respectful tone of the topic at hand.

I really enjoyed the debate, and was happy that the student senate chose to hold such an event. Such discussions can influence individual philosophies, and strengthen the understanding of our peer’s views as well. Political discourse needs not be disrespectful and angry, they can very well be civil and informative, as was seen with the first Stockton Democrat vs. Stockton Republican debate.

On September 19^th, 2017, I went to the Constitution Day celebration to hear Julian E. Zelizer, CNN Political analysis and political author. The main focus of his discussion was the state of the United States under the presidency of Donald Trump, and how the disapproval and controversy of the current office compares to other offices of presidents past.

First, Zelizer touched on the current issues surrounding the presidency, such as Russia’s involvement with the election, the boundaries of Freedom, and controversial executive orders, such as nuclear deals with Iran and the Refugee camp. I appreciated that the speaker first addressed the current issues of the political climate, so that we had a solid base of knowledge to build off of and compare the rest of the talk and the past presidencies to.

Zelizer then continued to talk of the Trump administration in correlation of past administrations. He focused mostly on the FDR and LBJ administrations. Both of these presidents, were similar to the Trump administration in a particular way. They attacked and disapproved of others in their own party. Zelizer focused on the power that Congress has to stop and control the presidency. Trump has a unique rhetoric that Zelizer predicted could be his own undoing. He addressed that if Trump uses his aggressive rhetoric unduly, he could box himself into a corner, just as LBJ did with the Vietnam war and G.W. Bush did with the Iraqi and Afghan Wars. Also addressed is the topic of Impeachment. Zelizer stressed that this is used only as a last resort by Congress, and is only used if Trump would try to do something incredibly drastic, or if Trump would excessively abuse his power.

Zelizer finished the talk with ways that Congress is already fighting back for what is right, publicly speaking out against Trump and some even going against the party majority to vote for their personal beliefs instead of the beliefs of the party they belong to.

I really liked this event, and came out of it feeling like I had a better understanding of the current political climate. I really liked how Zelizer compared the current Presidency to ones that have passed and gave a nuanced and comparative opinion of the current state of American Politics instead of shoehorning in his personal opinions. I was a tad disappointed though, in the lack of Constitutional reference in the talk. As the talk was for Constitution Day itself, I feel that more emphasis should have been focused on the actual constitutional repercussions of the Trump administration, in lieu of historical comparison. That said, I really enjoyed this talk, and appreciate the politically engaging activities on campus.

Saturday September 9^th, was the 14^th annual day of service at Stockton University. I was able to participate, and partook in four different activities during the course of the morning and afternoon, all around campus.

The first activity was helping the students understand and participate in local and country wide political conversations and topics. We voiced our opinions on six topics that are prevalent today in the large group and compared them to national surveys of different age groups. Then, the group broke, and was given the rest of the time to make buttons in support of causes personally important to us, resister for voting and discuss the coming primary vote, and make posters to voice or opinions and share with our peers. This activity was less service and more becoming politically active and allowed us to be able to be active students in our country’s affairs and educated us so we can be politically active for years to come.

The second activity was constructing and decorating the exterior of coloring books to be distributed to children in local hospitals to brighten up their stays. During the time, I was able to construct two books, and decorate another three. My group also started a conversation about ways to support people in the community who are suffering, or on long-term medical stays in hospital.

The third activity was in league with the campus Active Minds Club, and I helped to paint large rocks that are going to be decorating the campus for an awareness scavenger hunt and make buttons to distribute and raise awareness for suicide awareness month. This activity was very close to my heart, as I have family and friends that struggle with their mental health, and to be able to give back to support those on campus who may be having similar struggles, or if not, just put a smile on someone’s face meant a lot to me.

The final activity was packing the last ten thousand meals for the Rise Against Hunger Volunteers, packing Rice-Soy meals for families and individuals in developing countries. Meals were packed in teams of four, with a bag and funnel manner, and one person apiece scooping out soy, rice, and dried vegetables. Vitamin packages were also included in the bag, to provide the recipients with sufficient nutrition.  What I appreciated the most was the fact that the next person to touch the meals will be the families in developing countries who will have a meal, for perhaps the first time in a long time. Thinking of that makes me feel like I am actually connecting with the people that I am serving.

I really enjoyed this Day of Service. It gave me a sense of accomplishment, reassured me about my place in the world, and allowed me to give back to my new community. I also made new memories with new friends, and was able to be an active member of my university community in the first week of residence, an experience I will cherish, and I look forward to the next opportunity I have to give back.