On a cold, rainy Saturday morning, I rushed to catch the bus that was parked at the Stockton Arts and Sciences building. The special occasion was a trip to Philadelphia to visit the Mummers Museum and the Italian Market. After the hour long bus ride to Philly, we finally made it to the Mummers Museum, where our three professors waited for us. The Museum had a glamorous outside design and once we stepped foot inside the museum, we were enthralled. The museum had a gift shop, costume displays, and furnished red carpets. A man who worked at the Mummers Museum guided us and gave us a detailed background of the Mummers history.  Every New Year’s, thousands of Philadelphians perform at the Mummers Parade. The costumes that the Mummers wear on New Year’s Day were stylistic. We wore some of the parade clothes and took a class photo. We really had a great time exploring the Mummers Museum and understanding Mummers tradition.

The next place we went to was the Italian market, which was similar to Jackson Heights in New York. Throughout a widespread area, the Italian market was full of meat and vegetable markets, restaurants, candy stores, gift shops etc. I was in a group of 9, including the honors mentors, as we explored the market. It has been forever since I last explored around the streets of Philadelphia. As we hiked throughout the Italian market, our group was hungry. We went to the first restaurant that was nearby us and it was called Ninas Trattoria. The waiter came to our table and was getting his sketchpad to take our orders. While he was walking around to take our orders, I was thinking carefully about my order. I had $12 in my wallet and most of the delicious food on the menu exceeded the amount of money I had. I had to order something that was under my budget. Even though there were $12 food items, I chose one that would be of less price. Finally, I ordered the broccoli fritatta. It had no meat, was a $9 meal, and sounded delicious. After waiting so long for my meal, it finally arrived. The broccoli fritatta, or broccoli omelet, was made of broccoli, fried potatoes, crisped onions and peppers, eggs, and mozzarella. However, I did not expect the broccoli to taste bitter. We all had our fill and thanked the waiter for the best food we had. The bus arrived after a half hour and it was time for us to go back. Throughout the whole field trip, I had a taste of refined Philadelphian culture and will hope to return again someday.

It was a glorious day for a field trip to the Stockton Farm. The moment I went on the bus with my class, I was filled with elation. I wondered what kind of fruits and vegetables that the farm had cultivated and if the farm had sheltered any livestock. The Stockton Farm was not far from the campus. It was located at the beginning of Vera King Farris Drive, the road that links to the campus. As the shuttle bus entered the narrow pathway that led to the farm, it stopped there to drop us off. We took a pleasant hike to the farm and when we made it to the farm, we were then greeted by Jessica and Mary, two Stockton students who work at the farm.

They gave an amazing tour around the field. First, they showed us the different kinds of fertilizers they use to enrich the soil. The fertilizers are purely organic and help boost up the plant growth. Then, they showed us pesticides they use on the crops to prevent animals from eating them. I was really astounded at how there are not that many vegetables in the field. There are different pepper plants, but there were not any tomato, spinach, cucumber, lettuce, or onion plants growing. Most of the plants were eaten by groundhogs, so the farm has 10-feet fences to keep those kind of pests away. The irrigation canals were plowed really deep and it seemed like water could easily flow through the canals when it rains.

The most amazing part of this field trip was that you get to try out some of the vegetables that are grown there. I was only allowed to take one bell pepper from a plant and then I started to eat the pepper. Oh boy, it tasted really good. A friend of mine was daring herself to eat a habanero pepper and once she bit one part of it, her tongue went numb. “You can’t eat it in a plain fashion. You need to eat it when you are eating a sandwich or bowl of chili”, I said as I chuckled. Jessica and Mary even told us about the volunteering and internship opportunities that they offer at the farm. It sounded interesting and at some point in my college career, I will work at the farm. Since I had a clear understanding about what kind of seasonal vegetables grow here at the Stockton farm or even throughout the whole state of New Jersey, I was anxious to start my Animal Vegetable Miracle paper right away.

On September 6, 2014 at 8 am, Stockton began hosting its annual Day of service, where various clubs and organizations plan various projects for us to choose to do. I arrived at the Campus Center 10 minutes before 8 to sign in, got a Stockton Serves T-shirt, and grabbed a cup of coffee and a muffin. After I sat down to fill out a waiver form, I met up with my Honors classmates and asked them what project interested them. They unanimously voted on WaterWatch, an on-campus project.  Since I wanted to work with my friends, I decided on WaterWatch as well. After breakfast, we went to the Board Room where the Day of Service council members gave us a brief lecture about the various projects. After the long lecture, we knew that WaterWatch is a community service project that is designed to keep the environment healthy.

Our 11- man squad was assigned to clean around West Quad, campus buildings A-J, the gazebos, the Arts and Sciences building, and the front and back of the Campus Center. Since we know that would take long for the whole squad, we devised a plan. Our 11- man squad was broken up into 2 mini groups: one of the mini groups were to clean the Arts and Sciences buildings, the gazebos, and A- F wings while the other mini group were to clean up the rest of the assigned areas. Even though we did not find that much trash, there were minor issues about cigarette butts. The gazebos were littered with cigarette butts.

Overall, the experience was fun. We all gave 100% dedication to doing the WaterWatch, not to mention, we socially bonded with each other and shared fun moments. It was a great way to demonstrate that we cared about the environment. After a day of hard work, we settled down at the Coffee House to get lunch and do a reflection about our project. We discussed the good things and the bad things about the project. By participating in this event, we all have understood what the true meaning of service is and what we can do to change the community around us.