As the first one in my family to go to college my mother was obviously apprehensive by this life changing event. I had never been away from home for more than two weeks and I tried to console my mom any way I could to give her some tranquility. All she wanted was for me to respect the morals and values instilled before my by my parents and by my Catholic teachings. I promised her that I would not forget my teachings and that I would do my best to find and join any Catholic organization or group in college. Here at Stockton exists the Newman Catholic Club/ Catholic Campus Ministry, to which I have recently become apart of with a few of my friends. Their first event consisted of a Catholic mass on campus, to which I assisted in the TRLC main meeting room Sunday September 11^th, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. When I came through the door I was greeted by students and faculty members of the Stockton community that made me feel welcomed and at home. The director of this club, Lois Dark, immediately recognized our presence in the area and took great interest in the new members of the club even learning the names all of the new members by the end of the session which was very impressive. The improvised altar and ceremonial adornment was very charming and the atmosphere in the room was full of amicable laughter and joyful natter, and only adding to the merry attitude was the club’s father, Father Tom. Father Tom makes everyone smile with his good natured jokes and his approachable attitude. I, overwhelmed by the entire experience, immediately volunteered to help Father Tom with his sermon by being a reader at the podium. The sermon was done in an attractive and timely manner, with remarkable refreshments after the service to meet and talk to fellow members and to have a friendly conversation with the director and father. Newman Club also partakes in other religious and fun activities various times in the semester, but we can talk about that in the next blog. In the end it was a fulfilling experience that made me feel at peace spiritually and hopefully reassured my mother of my adventures in college. The service was phenomenal and the friendly attitude of everyone makes anyone new to the club feel spiritually and physically unperturbed.

As an introvert, it’s never easy for me to make friends or even socialize with people. However, I see college as a chance to start fresh and try to make new friends as well as get acquainted with old friends who are also Stockton students. The past three weeks have been extremely overwhelming for me. Between the copious amounts of course work and essays I’ve been faced with recently, I am still trying to have fun and get involved at Stockton. As a commuter, it’s a bit more of a challenge to get involved and make friends on campus because a lot of students know each other from living in the dorms and have already established the group of people they want to call their friends.

Recently, Stockton held a Get Involved Fair which I decided to check out and see what it was all about. As I walked out of F-111, my last class of the day, I noticed the main hallway was filled with students and tables lining the left and right sides of the hallway. There had to have been close to a hundred tables, stretching from one end of the hallway to the other. As I wandered down the hallway, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of community and certain diversity from all the different clubs, organizations, and fraternities within that one hallway. I had no idea how many different organizations there were at Stockton; it was yet another thing that overwhelmed and simply amazed me.

There were so many choices down the hallway ahead of me. As I walked down the hallway, I was confronted with clubs for reading, gaming, fitness, helping the community, writing, so many unique unions to join based on one’s personal interests. As I made it to the end of the hallway, I saw a girl playing a ukulele at a table that had a piece of paper on it which read, “Stockton Music Union”. Music has always been my passion. I have been a flutist since I was nine, and more recently, I have become a guitarist, pianist, and ukulele player as well during the past two years. The Music Union was something that appealed to me so I decided I would sign up for the club. I signed up and decided that one club was enough for me for now, since I am still trying to get adjusted to the college life.

I went to the first Music Union meeting this past Tuesday. There were probably only about twenty of us, maximum, that showed up for the club. Everyone in the club seemed so friendly and welcoming, and I felt right at home. We went over who we were, the instruments we could play or wanted to learn, and the types of fundraisers and charities we would do as a club. It was a really nice feeling to be surrounded by musicians once again. I was in marching band during my four years of high school and I always found it more stimulating to be around fellow musicians than people who weren’t musicians. Anyhow, I think I’ll like the Music Union. Next week we have to play two compositions or songs in front of the club to show our skill level, I hope I do well and show everyone my talent.

The Day of Service, run by the Office of Student Development, was overall a very enjoyable experience. It was enjoyable and an excellent way to learn the pleasure of helping others. The only thing that I thought needed more work were the sign in tables. They were rather disorganized and it was hard for volunteers to figure out where to go and what to do.

There were many good points throughout the day as well. Personally I worked with Water Watch to help clean up the area around Lake Fred. Most of the areas that we thought would be full of garbage, were remarkably clean. However, it was surprising to see that there were areas where cigarette butts were plentiful, as though those places were popular smoking spots. It was really disgusting to see them littering the ground when 300 yards away, there was a trash can and a recycle bin. Another surprise that awaited us was what looked like a microwave half-submerged in Lake Fred. That shocked all of us because we all wanted to know what exactly happened that would cause a person to hurl a microwave into the lake. In all it was a fun experience, running around talking laughing, and picking up the various garbage and throwing them away.

Another thing that I thought was a very good idea was the idea of the pre and post surveys being the same. It was an excellent idea because I personally saw how my views changed from before doing the project to after. It was a creative way to see how our opinions and views can change just by taking small steps to help our communities and the communities around us. In all, the Day of Service was a fun experience and I was very proud to have been a part of it.

During the annual Stockton Service Day, September 10, 2011, I participated in the construction of several osprey nests. The project was headed by Jon Rosky, a part time professor at Richard Stockton. He supplied the needed materials (lumber, power tools, screws, etc.) and helped students in the actual construction as well. While we called the finished work osprey “nests”, these were really just a jump start or structural base for the parent osprey to build off of. We constructed a square frame with a partial base to act as a foundation for the actual nest to be built in. On the one finalized nest, we also attached a support pillar, constructed of a large railroad tie. A metal sleeve was placed over a section of the railroad tie to prevent raccoons from getting to the egg laden nest. Two-by-fours were also positioned several inches off of two sides of the nest to act as a means of flight practice for the growing chicks.
All of this was done as part of an effort to help the local osprey population. By creating and installing these man-made nests in the surrounding forests and natural sights, these birds are given a better chance of survival. As an on-campus event, this was just a one-time construction. However, the effort of building these osprey nests is an ongoing project which myself and one other student from that days service project offered to participate in. I myself found this effort very enjoyable and practical. I hope that I will be able to give more aid to this project, and that we can have a positive effect on the local osprey population.

Taylor Lee

As a high school student, I never did much for my school.  When I wasn’t in school, I was swamped with work and a family to take care of.  I was never able to partake in the clubs, school events, or athletics.  When I walked in the doors of The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, I was ecstatic about exploring the different opportunities that I am now able to take advantage of.  I wanted to be able to make up for all the experiences I missed out on as a child.  However, I was clueless on how to go about my search.

On September 19^th and 20^th, my prayers were answered.  During these two days, Stockton College held a “Get Involved Fair”.  This fair held the answers to all my problems.  As I walked the hallways of F-wing, I was immersed into the crowd as hundreds of students rushed to the tables to sign up for their favorite clubs.  As I wandered past each table, I began to ponder how I was going to decide which ones to join.  It seemed as though every club held interest to me.  Soon after, I decided to give in to my temptations.  I went to every table that seemed enjoyable and signed my name.  Before I knew it, I had signed my name to ten different clubs.  When I left the fair that day, I was a new member to clubs ranging from Biology to Gaming.  I have never experienced a more satisfying feeling.

Blogging Project

The freshmen students of the Stockton Honors Program saw their fair share of icebreaker activities and Irish dancing on July 10^th at the Stockton Overnight Experience hosted by the Honors Program. The event was an overnight stay focused on putting the Honors students in an environment that would help them to develop friendly relationships with fellow students and gain a comfortable understanding of the campus. Such interactions included volleyball, icebreaker activities, murder mystery scenarios, Irish dancing, and most notably a sleep over. By putting students in the unfamiliar territory of not knowing the people around them, they became more inclined to socialize and familiarize themselves with the other members of the program. This was particularly evident during Irish dancing where students were organized into groups and expected to learn the dance steps in sometimes very intimate situations such as holding hands or dancing with a partner of the opposite sex. As the level of difficulty for each dance increased, so did the level of interaction between partners, and by the end of the session, students were spinning, ducking, and twirling around the room.

After dancing, the next group activities were icebreakers, such as push up contests, animal impressions, and human shape configurations. Meant to be fun and silly, these activities were designed to make students interact in a more comical manner than the dancing.

Personally, I had arrived at the Stockton campus at 9am and felt reasonably uncomfortable because I didn’t know anyone, but as I participated in the dancing and other activities, I began to meet new people. In addition to making friends, the various activities located throughout the campus gave me a sense of direction. I started understanding the names and locations of certain buildings around the school and the overwhelming feeling of being on a college campus went away. When it came time for parents to leave, this new found feeling of comfort and trust made it easier for me to accept the Stockton campus as my new home and to feel comfortable sleeping overnight. Contrary to my original belief, sleeping at school was the most exciting part of the experience and it was while in my room that I felt most at ease because as I introduced myself to my roommate and we quickly found things in common. Through a developing conversation I learned that he lived about 5 minutes away from me off campus and that he planned to commute to school just as I was doing. I also learned that he felt the same way I did about the activities, that they were sometimes awkward but ultimately served a positive social purpose; giving us a real look at the camaraderie in college living and a positive outlook on our futures as Ospreys. The day as a whole was a success because if it weren’t for the Honors Experience, I would not feel the sense of belonging to the college and the Honors Program that I do now. However I will admit that I prefer never to get involved in another icebreaker activity in my life because I’ve had enough to last a lifetime; hopefully my college memories will last the same.  If it weren’t for the Honors Experience, I would not feel the sense of belonging to Stockton and the Honors Program.

On September 19, 2012, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey was visited by a special guest speaker, Anita Hill.  Anita Hill is a writer and a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace.  She visited Stockton to tell her story, and to inspire women to stand up for their rights.  Unfortunately, even though she arrived with noble intentions, I feel that the Anita Hill event was ineffective and dull.

I walked into the event center with high expectations and excitement for the speech.  What I witnessed was a great disappointment.  The speech was nothing like I was expecting.  I felt that Professor Hill spoke in far too many circles and repeated the same argument over and over again.  After the first twenty minutes, I found it difficult to focus on her story and fought myself to stay awake.

This speech was uninspiring and downright boring.   I was unable to retain any of the information given by Doctor Hill because I could not focus on a single word she spoke.  She did not speak of any of her experiences or how to truly deal with harassment in the work place.  I felt as though she preached too much about history and women’s rights with far too little personal input.  As a victim of harassment, I was hoping to be able to find a strong connection with Anita Hill.  Instead, I sat unentertained as I stared, eyes unmoving, at the clock, wondering when the speech would be over.  Once the questioning was over, I was relieved to have been able to walk out the doors.  This event proved to be a great disappointment, and a huge waste of time.  I was unimpressed with Doctor Hill’s presentation, and will most likely not attend her future speeches.

By: Stephen May

The event that I attended was the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey’s 8^th Annual Stockton Day of Service, which was held on September 10^th 2011, hosted by the college’s Office of Student Development. Held in conjunction with various community organizations, the Day of Service took place at locations spanning across Stockton’s beautiful campus as well as around the surrounding areas and communities. The Day of Service provided rewarding opportunities for Stockton’s students, professors, faculty, as well as local community members to come and work together to better the college, benefit the local community, as well as provide aid to those in need.

The Day of Service was so unique in that it provided such a wide range of experiences and opportunities for those participating, allowing participants to work in areas relating to their area of study, non-academic pursuits or hobbies, or simply a random project that sparked their interest. These opportunities included such things as preparing and delivering food to local pantries, landscaping and maintenance at local landmarks and parks, numerous projects on campus, as well as many more. It was great to see participants eagerly undertaking their tasks and the gratitude expressed by those they helped, and just as importantly, the new friendships and lasting bonds that were formed between participants as a result. The barbeque/picnic held after the event’s conclusion was a wonderful outing to celebrate and reflect upon the recently completed service as well as to give thanks to those who provide such aid and services daily around the nation.

On a personal level, I was able to do my service at the National Wildlife Reserve in Oceanville, working to maintain the bountiful landscape of the area. It was such a fulfilling experience and, though at times we had to battle some fierce mosquitos, it was truly a joy to work with my fellow students and learn so much about them. I am extremely grateful not only for the opportunity to be able to give back to the community and clean up the reserve, but also for the chance to form new friendships, many of which you I would not have been able to pursue if not for the Service Day. Everyone I spoke to about the event had terrific and rewarding experiences with their service, and was glad that they had the opportunity to give back to Stockton, their new “home away from home.” I look forward to participating in this event again next year, as well as other events like it that Stockton hosts, such as the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service (held annually).

It was only yesterday that I participated in quizzo night. As I entered F-111 I was immediately pelted with candy. I can’t think  of a better way to start any event. From there we formed several teams as we waited on the last few people. The team I was a part of was, the cookie tribunal. In all there were five teams formed by the time the questions started.

The category of the first round was pop culture. Our team consisted of an engineer, a mathematics major, and a business major. We looked to each other knowing, we were probably going to lose. “In what month did the royal wedding take place?” None of us could think of the answer until one of us mentioned that the wedding took place a few days before the death of Osama Bin Laden. Knowing the day of his death was the beginning of May we were able to deduce that the royal wedding was most likely in April. This was how we were able to get through the round in third place.

As the rounds went on we, the cookie tribunal, were able to push our way to second place. The categories included American history, numbers, and sports. Then came the fifth round, famous movie quotes. We began that round in second place, and we ended in fourth place afterwards. Out of fifteen questions we got seven correct. Out of fifteen questions we answered five Forrest Gump and one I don’t know. As our luck would have it the “I don’t know” answer was the only one on the page from Forrest Gump. After kicking ourselves for not realizing that earlier we proceeded to the last round.

The category for the last round was music. The round did not go so bad we were able to grab third place with a tie. We didn’t come in with the intent to win so none of us were disappointed. The night ended with a few goodbyes and candy grabbing. It was not an especially memorable night, but it is one of the first of many Stockton Experiences.