Josh Pagan

Stockton Farm Trip

I volunteered at the Stockton Farm with my Freshman Seminar class. Instead of meeting for class, we all got on a shuttle together to go to the farm because it went along with the book we were reading at the time, which was about eating locally grown food. Having previously filled out our safety waivers, we arrived and were given our assignments. My assignment was to dig beds for garlic cloves that would grow during the fall season and into winter. Unfortunately, there were some issues with the beds being too close, and all my hard work was destroyed and dug over because my bed couldn’t fit. Instead of sulking over my destroyed work, I continued by planting the garlic cloves into the beds that were not destroyed. This assignment was amusing because the garlic cloves had little hairs protruding from the dirt after it was all done. After finishing, I decided to eat one of the habanero peppers that they had. This was a huge mistake due to my lack of a drink and the fact that they had been water deprived which causes peppers to be even spicier than usual.

Doing this project was an enjoyable parallel to what we have read in class, such as in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle where farmers grew their own local foods. It was a strange experience to see where our food actually comes from, considering I am wired to think that it comes from the grocery store shelf and not from the dirt. The amount of work that goes into running the Stockton Farm must be immense and I applaud the people that keep it going. I know my back was hurting the next day after all of that work I put into shoveling the garlic beds and then planting them. Their hard work and determination will someday hopefully change the views people have of their food.

Josh Pagan

Atlantic County Animal Shelter

On September 27th, I volunteered at the Atlantic County Animal Shelter with the Honors Program. Although rides were not provided, I decided to carpool with some friends that were just as excited as I was to volunteer at the shelter. After filling out wavers, I was assigned to take care of cats. These were no ordinary cats, though. This was the cat infirmary and it was one of the cutest yet saddest things I have ever seen. The cats ranged from small, fist sized kittens to fully grown cats. Some were so sick a mere sneeze would send them flying to the ground. I had the privilege of cleaning their cages, feeding them, and showing them love in the process. During this time, I had to handle each cat and move them to an alternate holding cell so that I could clean their cage. This mostly turned into holding each cat for five minutes before any work even began. By the end, I had grown quite fond of a cat named Uri that reminded me of my cat from home and I just wanted to take him home. Frankly, I wanted to take all of those cats home because I am a crazy cat lady at heart.

Doing this project gave me a newfound respect for people that work at animal shelters and a new outlook on how important it is to adopt from local shelters if one is thinking about getting a dog or cat. The jobs that these people have to perform are not pretty. Some of these jobs include scooping poop, cleaning throw up, and cleaning countless cages. Regardless, most of the workers perform all of these duties with a smile on their face. It was hard for me to do my job with a smile because of the conditions that these animals were in. However, I would be more than glad to volunteer again there after such a rewarding experience.

Josh Pagan

Day of Service

On September 6th I did the Richard Stockton College’s 11th annual day of service. I decided to do the project called Books Without Borders. I looked at some other projects such as Water Watch but decided on Books Without Borders because I enjoy books and there was plenty of seats for my friends to also join me. In this project our job was to move boxes of books out of cars and storage to begin sorting them into their respective subjects. These books ranged widely from college textbooks to novels to children’s books. After sorting them all they would be put back into boxes and shipped to other countries to people who needed them hence the name Books Without Borders. I took it upon myself to sort out all of the science books because I am a biology major and science is my favorite subject. It was very relaxing organizing all of the books and knowing it was for a good cause. At one point I also helped clean up all of the trash that was accumulated from many empty boxes that all of the books came in.

Doing this project gave me a new outlook on books. I always looked at them as an annoyance to be forced to read them for school, but some people don’t even have them and they are actually a huge privilege. Everyone learns from these books and for people who don’t have the privilege of attending a college like Stockton, those books are their only source of knowledge and a greater education. Knowing that attending and helping with this project helped me give this privilege to other individuals made me feel great. I know that I will most likely never meet the people that will receive these books but it is enough knowing that they will be able to get so much knowledge out of them. I would enjoy doing this project again at the next day of service because I know exactly what it is about and I support what the project is about one hundred percent.