This semester, I decided to try something new with some friends: joining a volleyball team. Throughout my high school years I had played soccer and softball, and was a part of the swim team. I had always thought that volleyball was a cool sport, but never had time to try out or play. I would play in the backyard with some friends once in a while, but never play competitively. Once I found out there was an intramural league at Stockton University, I was excited to join.

After talking to a few friends, I found a team of six people who were interested in playing with me. Once November came around, we paid the bursar’s office and got t shirts made as our uniform. One of the kids on my team designed the logo himself, and we only had to pay five dollars for the shirt! We were all set to go, and everyone was looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go as smoothly as we had all hoped. We only had two boys on the team, and in order to play games each team needed two boys and two girls on the court at a time. That meant that we couldn’t afford for one of the boys to miss a game. However, one of the boys on our team started having personal issues, and couldn’t make any of the volleyball games. He had to go home almost every night, and all of our games were at night. We had to email the leaders of volleyball multiple times and ask if we could replace him with a different boy. After a lot of running around and stressing out, the people responded and told us they understood and that we could have a replacement. We were all excited and grateful that they were so understanding.

After that fiasco, however, our struggles were not over. Two of the girls on the team did not put the volleyball games on their priority list at all, so they rarely came. We played every game except one with only four players, and as a result lost every single one. One of my best friends on the team is a commuter, and she still made every single game. She would stay at my dorm overnight to avoid driving home at midnight. The other two girls lived on campus and simply chose not to come to the games because they didn’t feel like it. It was a little disappointing because we were all counting on each other to show up and play, but it was still really fun to be playing with friends, when they did all show up.

Even though the season caused my team a lot of stress, the games were really fun. It was a great way to get a group of friends together and take a break from our school work. I feel like I have become closer to the people on my team, and I have definitely strengthened friendships. It was also great that the people who run volleyball were so understanding with our predicament. Intramural sports is a great way to put yourself out there and try new things while having fun and goofing off with friends. I recommend intramural sports to anyone looking for something to do. I am upset that the season is ending soon, and cannot wait for next season.

On the first weekend of October, Stockton University held its annual University Weekend. Starting Thursday night and going on until Sunday, families of students were invited to campus to take part in numerous activities. The campus came alive that weekend, and it was one of the busiest weekends so far. It was so cool to see how many people actually stayed that weekend, instead of going home like many usually do. That weekend, I was able to meet the families of many of my new friends and also introduce my family to my new friends.

On Friday night, my family came down here to hang out and see the campus. I showed them around, and we watched the magician in the coffeehouse. He was really good, and my younger brother had a blast. He used to want to be a magician, so it was great to see that he still loved magic! That night my grandparents surprised me by coming to campus and bringing my cousins with them, too. It was wonderful to see them all and they were so excited to see me, too. When they got here, I walked over to the parking lot and then showed them my dorm. My cousins made me a drawing that they gave me, and it’s currently hanging on the wall above my bed. After showing them where I live now, I walked them back to the Campus Center where my family was eating. We all talked and caught up there for a while. Afterward, my friends told me there was a comedian in the gym so I took my brother, sister, and cousins to go see it. We walked in late, so I guess they had taken down the “Adult Language” warning sign by that point. I was not warned that it was inappropriate, although maybe I should have assumed. We stayed in the gym for about five minutes and then decided that my cousins were too young for that type of humor. We left the show and went back to the coffeehouse, to a nice kid-friendly environment. The magician was packing up his supplies still, and when we got there he made my cousins and brother balloon animals. They were having a blast. We spent the next couple hours playing foosball and card games with my family in the coffeehouse, and everyone had a great time.

My parents and brother left after the games because they had a long drive home, and were coming back the next morning for breakfast. My sister was spending the night in my dorm, though, so she stayed with me. My grandparents and cousins came with us to Seaview for milkshakes, and it was a lot of fun. We were blasting music in the car, and my cousins were being so funny at the hotel. They are seven and nine years old, so they’re really goofy. A year before this weekend, my aunt had gotten married at Smithville and we had all stayed at Seaview, so we spent a lot of time reminiscing while we were at the hotel. After we got back to campus, my grandparents and cousins left and my sister and I went to bed. It was great to be able to see everyone together since last time I went home I wasn’t able to. I hadn’t seen my sister in a while because the weekend I went home she was busy, so it was great to catch up with her.

My parents and brother came up again Saturday morning for the breakfast that was being held. I walked around the street fair with my family after breakfast and we all played games at the tables that were set up and won a lot of free stuff. Everyone had a blast! My family was goofing off the whole time, and the atmosphere was great. It made everyone feel at home. After the street fair, my family was having a blast meeting all of my new friends and their families. My mom actually found out that she works with a relative of one of my friends, so that was really cool.

All in all, the weekend was a great way to catch up with my family. They all enjoyed it and Stockton did a great job putting the whole thing together. I think all the events were great for the families, and it really helped them get a sense of what our college experience was all about. I can’t wait for next year’s University Weekend.

On September 19, 2017 Stockton University hosted their annual “Get Involved Fair” where many of the clubs held at the university got a table to try to recruit new students to join their club. Most of the clubs made a poster or a trifold to show what their club was all about. The fair was located in the main campus building and covered almost every wing.

As I walked through the fair, many different clubs were calling out to me and my friends. Representatives would say that we looked like we’d be interested in their club, and some clubs even said that they’d be interested in us. The atmosphere was made to help students feel like they belonged somewhere, and it definitely worked. Many students would call us over to their tables, and some club members would wait for us to approach their tables before talking to us. Each table gave a quick synopsis about what their club was about, and if we were interested we could sign up with our emails to get notifications about meetings. It was truly a great experience because even if we didn’t sign up for the specific club the members were still excited to talk to us and understood that we weren’t interested.

The fair had many clubs that were aligned with specific majors, but also ones that were not. Personally, I tried to join the clubs that interested me, and as time goes on I will determine if I joined too many or not. I wanted to experience each club at least, to make sure I make the right decision if I decide that I joined too many. I signed up to join the biochemistry club, the animal friendly club, medical research club, and S.A.V.E. club. I plan to attend the first meetings of each and see how they go. I think I’ll stay in every club though, because they all seem really cool.

I have only one complaint about the fair, and it’s not even about the fair itself, but one specific club. I don’t want to mention the club’s name because I’m sure they’re a great organization, but the girl that worked the table was not too pleasant. A friend and I were interested in the specific club at the fair, mainly because it was about raising awareness and fundraising for a disease that had impacted both of our families. In our high school we had been leaders of a club similar to this one, so we wanted to continue doing our part in helping those affected by this disease. When we approached the table, the girl was not very inviting to begin with. She was sitting on her laptop doing her homework. So my friend and I read her poster ourselves and said hi to her. We asked if there was a sign-up sheet or anything, because there was not on the table. She responded by asking us what our majors were. After answering that I was majoring in biochemistry and my friend in health sciences and physical therapy, the girl at the table responded with “oh you won’t be interested in my club then.” She shook her head, and then returned to looking down at her homework. My friend and I were appalled. This fair was supposed to help us find where we belonged, and this club that we both felt passionately about had dismissed us because of our majors. On the contrary, we found other more accepting clubs and look forward to being a part of them.

After attending this fair, I was very pleased with my decision to attend. There were so many people reaching out to others and trying to help students find their place in school. Some clubs were giving out free stuff, and most of the time they didn’t even expect anything in return. The clubs didn’t care if someone signed up or was interested in their club, they were handing things out to make others happy. There were two that stuck out to me personally. First was the faculty run table. They weren’t promoting any clubs or anything. They were handing out free pretzels and drinks, free phone accessories, pens, and lanyards. They were just letting us know about fun events coming up within the next couple of weeks and giving us free stuff. Secondly, there was the chemistry club. They were making liquid nitrogen ice cream, and were offering it to everyone walking by. Some people didn’t even stop to see what the club was about, but members of the chemistry club were okay with it. They were just trying to give people some free ice cream. It was honestly a great experience, and made me realize how great the people of Stockton really are.