On September 14, 2017 I attended the Meet the Greeks event with my roommate and another friend. I have never had an interest in Greek life, but I decided to go anyway because my roommate really wanted to go. I was just hoping that I would get some free food out of it, which I did not end up getting. My plan was to just follow my roommate and friend around the room silently while trying not to get too close to any over-excited sorority member. I did not think Greek life was taken so seriously at Stockton, but all of the sorority and fraternity members seem to be very dedicated to their chapters. I was bored at first, but I decided to actually participate instead of watching and had a lot better of a time.

The first sorority we walked up to was Sigma Sigma Sigma because my roommate’s friend is in the sorority, so it was one of her top choices. The girl we talked to bombarded us with tons of overwhelming information that was not well explained, so we walked away feeling pretty confused and my friends were unsure about whether they still wanted to join a sorority. We decided to move on a talk to a few more sororities and actually ended up learning a lot about pledging, rushing, and just information about sorority life in general. After attending Meet the Greeks my opinion on Greek life has changed. I no longer think of sorority girls as brain-washed party girls, but rather involved students that are passionate and willing to help. Although I respect Greek life now, I still do not want to join one because they take up a lot of time and dedication.

All in all, I would recommend going out of your comfort zone to witness something you may not know a lot about. I was able to learn about Greek life, which I previously had no clue about. If my friends never dragged me there, then I would still be ignorant and judgmental towards sororities.

Stockton hosted an event known as the Get Involved Fair on the 19th and 20th of September. The Get Involved Fair is essentially a multitude of clubs, volunteer opportunities, fraternities, and sororities that each set up their own table in order to attract new members. The Get Involved Fair is one of the best ways to get involved on campus, for all the clubs at Stockton could be found there. Being involved both on and off campus, whether it be planting new tomato plants with the garden club or playing sports with special needs children, is essential in order to build a resume. A resume stock-full with a combination of clubs, volunteer hours, and sports makes the resume far more appealing to potential employers. Additionally, clubs and activities are the best way to make friends considering they obviously share a common interest if they join the same club. The Get Involved Fair facilitates making connections and building an impressive resume.

In between classes I decided to stop by the Get Involved Fair considering the tables lined up through multiple different wings on campus, so it was difficult to avoid. Candy and free stuff were being offered by pretty much all of the clubs and members of greek life in order to grab people’s attention. Luckily, I was able to snag up two free pens, two lanyards, a pop-socket, and a card holder to stick to the back of my phone. The free stuff was not the only reason I attended the fair, however. I arrived to the fair in hopes of joining Physical Therapy club and Marine Science club. I left the fair with more opportunities than I imagined.

My first stop at the fair was of course the table for the Atlantic County Animal Shelter. The only reason I walked up to the table was because there was an adorable dog named Tiny that I just had to pet. I had a great conversation with the woman who worked at the shelter about dog training and just dog behavior in general. I have been taking care of dogs my whole life since my mom is a dog breeder, so I had a good idea of what volunteering at an animal shelter entails. They were looking for people to bathe, feed and socialize the animals, and I was very interested because I already know how to do all of that. Especially since I am in college I miss my dogs so much and taking care of other animals would make me miss them less, so I decided to sign up. My next stop was at the table for Undergraduate Physical Therapy club. My major is health sciences with a concentration in Pre-Physical Therapy, so I decided to join the club in hopes of becoming more knowledgeable about Stockton’s graduate Physical Therapy program. My roommate also joined Physical Therapy club, so it is another way me and her can bond. Marine Science club was the next club I signed up for because I have always been obsessed with marine life, sharks especially. They do volunteer work such as cleaning up beaches, and I want to do everything I can in order to help save the oceans and everything that lives in them. Next, studying abroad has always been in the back of my mind as something that could be an option for me in the future since I love traveling. Learning about other cultures while also learning about something I love sounds amazing. So, I stopped by the study abroad table, put my name down, and grabbed a ton of informational brochures. Lastly, I signed up for a food kitchen because I just like helping people and talking to people. I have experience waitressing, so taking care of people is something I am used to doing and I love. Although a food kitchen is not really like a restaurant, it is similar enough as far as the social aspect and I’m sure I would still enjoy it. I went to the fair in hopes of joining just two organizations, but I ended up joining five. All in all, the Get Involved Fair was a great idea and I am so glad I went.