Make A Difference Day was held on October 24th this year from 8am to 5pm. This was a national day of service. This year Stockton conducted three different service projects on make a difference day. The first was an indirect service off-campus event co-sponsored by Student Development & Political Engagement Project. Volunteers met at 8:00am in the Campus Center to make the trip to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. The second  was a direct service off-campus co-sponsored by Stockton Water Watch and Clean Ocean Action. Volunteers for this service conducted a beach clean up in Atlantic City from 8:00am to 2pm. The third was a direct service on campus co-sponsored by Books Without Borders. Volunteers for this service met from 9:00am to 1pm to collect and organize donated books.

I personally volunteered for the third activity with Books Without Borders because I regularly attend their club meetings. Books Without Borders meets every Tuesday at 5pm in C103. Books Without Borders was created to address the concern for the lack of educational materials in third world countries. The club is composed of students, professors, and concerned citizens who believe in the power of education and equal opportunity for all. Over the past few years Books Without Borders has received many donations allowing us to nearly fill up our shipping container. On Make A Difference Day volunteers unloaded, organized, and repacked the donated books. The donated books are organized into general categories such as, biology, history, mathematics, non-fiction, fiction, etc. The books are then repackaged into new boxes which are then labeled with the category and number of books. After the books are repackaged, they are loaded into the shipping container. On Make a difference day volunteers made an assembly line to shuttle the books into the container.

This volunteer activity really encouraged collaboration and teamwork. We all had to work together to get the job done effectively. This activity also allowed volunteers to become better acquainted with the service learning office as their employees were present on campus and worked with us. Service learning workers helped drive the busses to and from the shipping container as well as helped us unload and reload the books. What I loved about this volunteer activity is that it was an on campus activity with an on campus organization which will allow volunteers and students to get involved in a long lasting service opportunity. On campus activities such as this will help build Stockton’s community and encourage them to continually engage in service.

This year, Day of Service was held on Saturday September 12th. Day of Service is run by the Service Learning Office. Students volunteer to spend the day learning about service projects and ways to get involved on campus as well as in the surrounding community. Students were expected to attend the event from 8am to 4pm. Students were grouped into four different teams – red, blue, green, and purple. Throughout the day, each group traveled from one planned destination to the next. At each destination there was either a service activity to complete or a service learning informative session.

The first destination that my group attended included both an activity and an informative

session. We learned about Covenant House in Atlantic City and all the ways to mentor and socialize with the individuals who reside there. Then we learned about how Campus Kitchen prepares food on Mondays at Atlantic High School Commercial Kitchen and then distributes it to families in need who live transitionally in local hotels. Finally we ended with an activity involving Books Without Borders where we packaged up donated books to send to libraries in Africa.

At our second destination we learned about volunteer opportunities in our community and had in depth debates about controversial topics. We learned about The Petey Greene Foundation Tutors – who tutor in education programs in prisons and jails. Tutors provide individualized assistance and model helpful study habits to prisoners – transportation is available to and from the prisons. At this station we had the chance to register to vote. We also were asked to take a poll on whether we thought The Death Penalty should be illegal and if we thought police had the right to search our phone and personal belongings after being arrested. After we polled our opinions we had a group discussion about our answers which fostered public speaking and comfortability with peers.

Finally we learned about The Green Dot program at Stockton which is run by the Wellness Center. The Green Dot program raises awareness to make the campus safer.

Everyone should do say of service! It’s a fun and easy way for students to get acquainted with the service learning office and what they do. Students will leave Day of Service with loads of information that will help them get involved at Stockton and in the community.

The Stockton Outdoor Adventure Retreat is held every year three days prior to Welcome Week. The S.O.A.R program is run by Jen Radwanski with the help of the The Activity Leaders of New Students also known as the T.A.LO.N.S. S.O.A.R is held at Camp Ockanickon in Medford New Jersey, 45 minutes from the University. This year the students attending S.O.A.R moved into their dorms the morning of Tuesday, August 25th and left for camp Tuesday night. They spent all day Wednesday and Thursday at camp and returned home the night of the 27th.

S.O.A.R is the greatest opportunity for incoming freshman. New students get 2 nights and 3 days to bond with each other at Camp Okacnicion. Students are assigned to specific tribes that they remain with for the duration of their trip. The tribes participate in team building activities including various group games. There is a rope course at the camp which includes rock climbing walls where students can push their boundaries and learn to trust themselves as well as each other. There is also a beautiful lake where students can go kayaking and canoeing during free time. Everyone on the trip eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner together which allows everyone to mingle between the tribes. The Camp Staff is friendly and encouraging to Stockton Students and really adds to their experience on S.O.A.R.

S.O.A.R wouldn’t be the amazing experience it is without the T.A.L.O.N.S. The student leaders are exciting and down to earth. They are so thrilled to be on S.O.A.R and make the new students feel comfortable. The T.A.L.O.N.S play a key role in the leadership development in each of the students that attend. From sunup until sundown the T.A.L.O.N.S mingle in games such as the Newspaper Interviewer in which everyone is essentially “speed introducing eachother” and goes to as many people as possible in a minute. Additional games include the leadership training which entails the entire group to go through team-building experiences such as balancing on a log and attempting to move into birthday order, or approaching a “spider web” and having to lift people to get through each opening. Through it all, the T.A.L.O.N.S always smiled and pushed each student to chase their lion. The sense of community they brought into the S.O.A.R program truly made it an exceptional experience.

Overall, S.O.A.R is an unforgettable experience for all who attend. Every incoming freshman should apply. For those who didn’t have a chance to attend as a freshman you can always apply to become a T.A.L.O.N.S. S.O.A.R allowed me to feel comfortable in my new home at Stockton. I met amazing leaders and made friends that I will have for a lifetime. I thank everyone who played a part in putting together S.O.A.R and recommend it to every incoming freshman.