Author Archives: muhamedt

Fall 2015 Day of Service

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On Saturday, September 12, the Office of Service Learning hosted the twelfth annual Fall Day of Service. However, in this year’s event, the Day of Service committee decided to go in a different direction. All the attendees were divided into four teams: red, blue, green, and purple. Each team attended the same sessions but at different times. Since I was on the red team, I will tell the story according to the order I went in.

At the very beginning of the event, at 8 am, free breakfast, including donuts, muffins, and bagels, was served. Then, all the teams attended the opening session in the Campus Center event room. President Kesselman makes a welcome statement and thanks the students for coming. He also congratulates the faculty and students involved in the organization of the event. Then, keynote speaker Todd Bernstein came up to the stage and spoke about the importance of service and volunteering and how these can solve many of the country’s economic challenges.

After the opening session, the teams officially starting attending their assigned sessions. The red team first attended the “Hunger and Homelessness” session in the Campus Center Theater. A staff member from the Atlantic City “Covenant House,” Jennifer, spoke about the mission and goals of  “Covenant  House” which are to serve and care for homeless youths between the ages 18-21. Then, Stockton student Melissa spoke about the “Campus Kitchen,” and how they prepare or collect food from food banks and donate it to the needy people. Then Kaitlin, a staff member of “New Day Family Success Center” (a family service program) explained to us that the program’s mission is to help families in need and provide them with events and activities. Finally, a “Books Without Borders” member told us about this Stockton club and how they  collect books and have fundraisers to donate the books to many countries in need around the globe. After that, we started sorting lots of books and packing them in boxes.

In the next session “Civics,” the red team went to the C/D Atrium and was split into smaller teams, and each team was given a different colored pipe cleaner: orange, purple, yellow, and green. I was given an orange one. My team first went to the computer lab to fill out a survey about the Supreme Court to help a Political Science professor with her research. After that, we gathered and discussed whether or not the death sentence should be in the law. Last but not least, Tara Ronda, a volunteer coordinator in “The Petey Greene Program,” described that this program is designed to tutor prisoners in prison classrooms, and that any of us is welcome to volunteer.

For the third session “Circle K & BWB,” the team went back to the event room. We watched a presentation on the “green dot” and “red dot” and what they mean. Then we answered a survey via text messages. The main message of this event was to address that if anyone sees someone else in danger, that person should take any kind of action to help.

 The last session “Environment” was held in a classroom. First, Rick Dovey, the president of “ACUA” showed us a presentation about the company and how they help keep the community clean. Then, the Stockton club “Water Watch” showed us a presentation about the dangers of drinking from plastic water bottles because of the chemicals in them and how they affect us and spoke a little about Stockton’s sustainable farm.  

 At the end of the event, all the teams gathered in the event room to give their feedback about the event and of course, to get free T-shirts!

 In my opinion, this event could have been much better if there were more volunteering projects rather than just lectures and presentations. However, my favorite session of the day was the “Hunger and Homelessness” session because it was the only session we actually did a volunteer project in. I strongly hope that the next Day of Service would be a better event.

 

Diversity @ Stockton

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During Welcome Week, on Monday, August 31, the Stockton freshman and transfer students attended the Diversity Presentation event held by Sam Offer, a member of the Washington Consulting Group. The main aim of the event was to address the importance of diversity and acceptance of one another.

The first thing Offer asked the students to do was to form groups of threes and discuss whether their high schools had a diverse community and what they thought about it. Then he asked a couple of students to share these experiences with everyone in the room. After that, he told us to describe what it feels like to be in a diverse community.

Before asking further questions, Offer shared his own experience about how he was different and what struggles he faced. He told us that he is African American, Christian, and gay, and when he came out to his family, they immediately cut ties with him. Even though he hasn’t seen them in years, he still didn’t give up on them and did what he could do to reunite with them.

After sharing his experience, Offer asked the students questions about their differences such as religion, race, sexual orientation, economic class, family history, struggles, illnesses and etc. He told the students to answer by either standing up or raising hands and to look around for others similar to them. However, if anyone felt uncomfortable answering a certain question, they didn’t have to answer. Offer then asked the students to describe how they felt in one word after answering these questions. A few answers were  relaxed, accepted, and empowered.

I personally believe that this event was mandatory for a reason. Diversity is not only present at Stockton but around the globe. I believe that by learning about diversity and to accept each other, regardless everyone’s differences, during college years is a perfect way to prepare for life after graduation.

Tasbeeh Muhamed

2015 Fall Orientation

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On Monday, June 22, the incoming freshman and transfer students came with their guests to the orientation. First, everyone was given free bags and T-shirts, then got their pictures taken for their IDs, and then gathered in the Campus Center event room. The students were welcomed by the university faculty and were given an introduction about Stockton. Then, the student leaders introduced themselves to us and held a small and humorous play. At the end of this session, all the students were split from their guests and were divided into different groups according to their schools. Since I’m a NAMS student, I was in group 1.

My group was escorted to a group session meeting room and filled out a survey about our academic backgrounds and expectations about our college careers. Then, we gathered in a classroom and we first watched a short video about a young boy talking about working hard to achieve his dream. Then the orientation leaders answered our questions about student life and academics. They also showed and explained to us how to use the Go Stockton Portal and how to register for classes. Then some NAMS faculty members joined the session and explained the academic system at Stockton and then we were divided into even smaller groups according to our majors and we were advised on which classes to take this semester. Then we had a short lunch break and then registered for classes.

After registration, we gathered in a hallway to play “All My Friends and Neighbors” and “Ships and Sailors.” After that, the commuter and residential students split up. I went with the other commuters and the T.A.L.O.N.S. told us more about commuter resources and opportunities on campus and about the club “Commuters on the Go.” We also played a Jeopardy-like game with questions about the university and the campus and the two teams were the Tributes and the Smarties. Last but not least, we answered another survey about orientation and asked a couple of questions about Welcome Week.

At the end of the orientation, there were some refreshments and gifts given out and there were tables around the campus center with information about campus organizations and facilities. I think that orientation was a wonderful event that I will never forget.

Tasbeeh Muhamed