Author Archives: Lisa Rosner

Welcome Week Volleyball Tournament

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Welcome Week Volleyball Tournament

The first event that I ever encountered at Stockton as a student was the “Welcome Week” volleyball tournament. I figured there was no better way to make friends than to bump, set, and spike as a team. I was slightly nervous attending an event where I would not know anyone, but within minutes of arriving the counselors made me feel like family.

I didn’t have a pre-registered team, but I met five freshmen that were in the same boat as I. A perfect six! We decided to call our team, “ Team Zebras”, based on the fact a few of us were wearing zebra printed clothing. Before the events began, we met a new group of friends who invited us to practice with them. We practiced right up until the first game started. As “Team Zebras” we lost both of our games, but we enjoyed ourselves in the process. After all winning isn’t everything!

During the tournament, there was a huge, delicious barbeque filled with great food and snacks. One item that raised a few questions was the vegetable hotdogs. They looked like raw hotdogs, but someone explained that the chefs went out of their way and prepared a meal for the vegetarians. I thought that was very thoughtful of the chefs to do that. My favorite item was the macadamia nut cookies. I couldn’t stop myself from getting another of a newfound love on campus.

Overall, attending the “Welcome Week” volleyball tournament was an awesome way to meet new friends, eat a large portion of great food, and get acquainted with Stockton.

 

 

 

 

Blood Donation

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I was very nervous the whole day when I was scheduled for my blood donation. I had only considered donating blood when it was first mentioned but I needed an extra push. I was walking to the cafeteria to purchase some food when my fellow honor students asked me if I wanted to donate blood. I knew one of the people sitting behind the tables thus making it harder for me to say no. Unsurprisingly to myself, I ended up selecting the best day and time for me to donate blood and I kept thinking about how the experience will be like.

The day of my blood donation I walked to the Big Blue and I was ready. I walked to the entrance on the parking lot side only to find out I need to go in from the entrance opposite thus walking in a circle to my embarrassment. I eventually entered Big Blue and there were already a few people donating blood which made me calmer.

I was instructed to read some information regarding blood donation and then I was taken to a booth. A lady punctured the tip of my finger to draw blood to see my iron levels. The pain was light and brief which assured me thinking the other needle would be a bit worse.

After I completed their questionnaire, I was instructed to wait on a raised mat where I would be donating my blood. I was prepared by a man, but he left me for quite some time to attend to another person. As I made myself comfortable, my hands started to get sweaty while holding this stick. I kept looking at my wristwatch and I almost fell asleep.

Eventually he came back doing some more things to prepare me. There were many instances where I thought he was going to insert the needle and I embraced myself, but he did not insert it yet. I kept raising my head to search for the needle that will inevitably go into my arm.

A bit surprised, the needle was inserted into my arm. The pain was not as bad as I had previously thought and it slowly diminished. However, I could still feel a big needle stuck in my arm. I squeezed the stick in my right hand which I assumed the action pushed my blood out faster. I felt my right arm slowly numbing thus my squeezes felt weaker. I enjoyed the music playing in the background and I tried to relax. The process was complete quickly. Then came the only part of blood donation I was looking forward to, the snack table. I ate a few snacks before leaving.

Overall, the experience was much better than I had previously thought. I would definitely do it again next time. Donating blood could save someone’s life, however I did not like how I felt after donating blood. I felt really weak and wanted to go to sleep though I had my honors freshmen seminar class directly afterwards. A friend commented that I looked paler probably as a result of all that loss blood. The pros outweigh my cons and I will actually look forward to blood donations in the future.

 

8th Annual Stockton’s Day of Service

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Pulling up to the parking lot on September 10th, 2011 for the Stockton Day of Service, I did not know what to expect.  I had missed the registration date and had accepted the fact that I might not be able to get into a group that I would have in mind.  The registration line was not too long and I decided to join Circle K.  I still did not know what it was but I was excited to find out.  Then I walked in to the meeting room and I had to take a moment because there were so many people there.  Most of the volunteering I had done before was by myself and on certain occasions I had to lead a group of maybe 10-20 people, but this was a big group.  There had to be at least 250 people in that room.  I started talking to the people at my table and asking them which organization they were going to help.  Going around the table, there must have been 5 or 6 different groups that were named.  The interesting part about that was, I had never thought that certain places like museums would need volunteers, and I got to hear about a lot of different organizations that I had not been familiar with.

The African American Heritage Museum did not have enough volunteers, so Brian and I, along with a few other kids, decided to switch groups and join them.  It was nice doing something impulsive in a long time.  As we were walking out, our leader told us about the museum and how it represented African American Heritage.  He told us about their extensive collection, and that they could only display a small percentage of it because they did not have enough room.  At the museum, we helped them take out their newly donated Jackie Robinson collection (I touched Jackie Robinson’s shoes, even tied them!!!) and we took an inventory of everything they had and took pictures so that we could post them online.

It was a very interesting experience, and the president of the museum even gave us a personal tour, which was an honor.  I feel like the best thing that came out of that day was the fact that I felt inspired to explore new and more creative ways of volunteering and being a part of the community.  I feel like volunteering at a hospital is not enough for me anymore.  I want to do more, but more importantly, I feel inspired to do more!

 

Michael Kent Magic Show

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I had the pleasure of attending the new campus center’s inaugural event.  It was the magician Michael Kent’s magic/comedy show on September 7th.  It started off quite exciting; pulsating music and a standard ‘run onstage’ entrance.  Kent took the opportunity to complement our school and simultaneously insult the audience, but all in good humor.  It lightened the mood as he went into his interactive tricks, calling several people up to help him perform.  He stopped quite frequently for short comedy segments and his comedy style reminded me somewhat of Dane Cook.  One person’s phone went off in the audience and he took the opportunity to enclose it within a balloon he blew up.  He promptly removed it, telling the audience member to not be afraid and that the moisture on the cell phone was in fact “magic juice.”

I came to this show skeptical, thinking it would be your standard magic tricks that we’ve all seen before.  Yet, the tricks were original and kept the audience’s attention.  He did things such as cut a rope in half and moving the knot back and forth. One trick that stood out was him somehow producing a card that an audience member picked from a locked box that had been sitting in the audience from the beginning of the show.  However, as he was telling his audience member assistant to check the boxes, she had a look of skepticism.  Of course he readily downplayed and skipped over her raised concern, so it brought me back to reality and the belief that magic is not real!

Towards the end of the show, the audience was alerted that we had a magician among us that actually goes to Stockton.  The crowd urged a magic battle and ‘Magic Dave,’ as he is called walked gladly up to the stage.  Anyone who attended the show would agree that his trick was more than satisfying and left everyone in awe, although it required a subsequent amount of math skills.  Kent referred to him as a “living, breathing, Harry Potter,” and Dave gladly accepted as he took his seat.  Kent closed the show with asking everyone to remember the troops and follow him on Twitter, which makes me realize how dependent advertising is on social networking sites now.  All in all, I was very pleased and entertained with the event and would gladly attend it again if he returned.

Blood Drive

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On September 19th and 20th, 2012, Stockton College opened its doors to the Red Cross Foundation, who was in need of as much blood as the school was willing to offer. This event ended up being a resounding success, as they managed to collect an exciting amount of blood and plasma donations from both students and faculty.

I was not able to go to the actual blood drive, but I can proudly claim partial credit for the great turnout that occurred.  This claim is justified by my actions on September 13, 2012, from 2:15 to 5:10.  During this time, my only goals were to inform and convince, in relation to the blood drive.  I would wave people down, call over to them, or meet them in the hallway.  I soon discovered which quickly- blurted lines were the most persuasive, and used this information to its full potential. Even those who were unable to donate promised to tell others about our cause; many of them followed through.  Multiple students approached the table (a pleasant change!), already convinced by their friends. We soon had a steady stream of students at the sign up sheets, and the empty spots gradually turned into reservations.

It was truly gratifying to be working for such a noble cause. I knew that every passerby had the capability of being a lifesaver, and it was up to me to help them to their potential.  With the right explanation and a smile, it became a simple task. They could tell how strongly I felt about the Drive, and so they took it as a serious consideration.

This experience was not only beneficial for the Red Cross and the blood-recipients, but for me as well.  I learned to better understand people, and how to use this in a positive way.  This will surely be useful in Stockton and beyond, and I’ll forever be grateful for the knowledge opportunity.  Needless to say, this was not my last time tabling for volunteer purposes.

 

 

The Honors Overnight Experience.

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Excited. Anxious. Confused. Happy. This would have been the first time I ever had all these feelings at one time. Probably a bunch of you also felt the same way. Being incoming freshmen, college is a big-step filled with fun, choices and many mistakes. To many, it is a tremendous transition. At Stockton, there is a solution to ease the worries and anxieties – The Stockton Honors Overnight Experience. This exclusive event is only held for the honor students to give them a taste of college and all that it has to offer.

From Irish dancing to a whole bunch of icebreakers, I can definitely say that making friends was not even close to being a problem. The friends I made at the Honors Overnight are my closest friends now. In fact, I was even able to meet my roommate and get to know him better. This made the first days at Stockton a whole lot easier when I knew people beforehand. There were activities the whole day and I must say there was never a dull moment. One of the highlights of the day was volleyball. From Momina spiking the ball to everyone’s epic fails, if you weren’t friends with everyone before, you probably are now. You really get to know people from these activities.

However, not only did we have a great time, we got to learn more about the various places around campus that are meant to help you! For instance, we got to hear about the Wellness Center from Bob Ross, what the honors program is really about from Lisa Rosner, and service learning from Daniel Tome. From this, I really got a chance to obtain more information about Stockton and the help that it offers whenever I need it. The biggest advantage of the Honors Overnight would have been planning your schedule for classes. I got a whole bunch of advice and recommendations on interesting classes and scheduling the times correctly. This extra time made orientation a lot less overwhelming when you already had everything planned out. By the time I finished the Murder Mystery (last event of the night), I was completely exhausted. We got to sleep in our air conditioned dorms. Sleeping in these dorms gives you a picture of what it will be like the next four years of your life. In fact, by the time you move in, you will know where everything goes.

All in all, I just want to say that this is one of the best experiences and you shouldn’t miss it for anything! The Honors Overnight really gets you hyped up for Stockton in the fall and after it all, you will be counting the days before school starts.

Horace Leung

My Day of Service

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Dan McGowan 9/17/2011

The event I attended was the volunteer service at ARCH, or Atlantic Riding Center for
Health. I went on the day of service on September 10 2011. For me the
experience gave me a variety of things including hands on work but also an
inside view as to how ARCH helps people and what they focus on as a group. ARCH
is a horse stable that works with disabled children and other less fortunate
people to help them ride as a way to relax and learn basic skills. They are a
non-profit organization, and are in desperate need of funding. My assignment at
Arch was to help clean the grounds for a fundraiser they were holding the next
week. This was a onetime event where I volunteered my services but there is the
option to pursue additional trips over should someone be interested.
While volunteering I worked with the shift advisor Dave. It was an interesting experience as Dave gave insight to how things were run and how life was like working with horses every day. He loves what he does and it was refreshing to find someone who was so
passionate about the work they do. He understands that with a group such as
ARCH there are shortages on equipment and that sometimes the tasks at hand are
daunting because the group cannot afford needed material. But he never talks
down about the group, it’s just understood that it needs to be done one way or
another. While we worked on such things as making a wooden bridge, or cleaning
up branches from Hurricane Irene Dave explained more to me about actually
working with horses and how he wants to be able to do this his whole life.
Working at ARCH was similar to my summer job where I work at a horse farm as a hand. It was all very similar to me, because around a farm there is always something that needs
to be done. The days are never the same and sometimes you are faced with challenges
you never expected to come across. I found the activity rewarding because
whenever I physically get involved it feels like I accomplished something and
that my day was put to good use. The people at ARCH are a  extremely nice and caring group and it was an honor to be able to work with them for a day and learn about their lives and ambitions for ARCH.

A Day of Surprises

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A single voice addressed the crowd at the Stockton Day of Service announcing, “I need volunteers to go off campus.”  Hardly any eyes from the students congregated in the room looked up front as Daniel Tome, the program coordinator for the Office of Service Learning, addressed the room. The Stockton Day of Service was not starting off in the spirit of volunteering as many students waited for someone else to volunteer to venture off campus.  The group of students had gathered on September 8th for a day of working with service projects on and off campus organized by the Office of Service Learning.  Students were asked to designate interests at registration and then they were supposed to be sorted into service projects that fit those interests. According to the amount of people in the Event Room for Girl Scouts and Circle K, a ton of students had the same interests.  It seemed that, although it was a good idea to place students by interest in the different service projects, the even distribution of students among service projects was lacking greatly.

I was among the students designated to stay on campus that volunteered to rush onto a bus at the last minute and be whisked away to some unknown place.  I had no clue what service project I was going to be working with until I walked through the doors of the Martin Luther King Jr. School in Atlantic City to be introduced to A.H.E.A.R.T. Ministries. A.H.E.A.R.T Ministries is an organization that helps at risk infants and their families who are in dire situations.  The volunteer group I had been haphazardly put in was assisting with the Infant Mortality event where mothers came in with their infants to gather clothes and supplies they desperately needed. With winter looming, we piled onesies and miniature flannels into bags for the mothers to take home. When it was time to board the bus at the end of the day, I did not want to depart.

The Stockton Day of Service, though it had some organization problems in the beginning, turned out to be a success for Stockton students. Enough students braved the blind volunteering for an off campus project and each service project was successfully completed.  All of the students who participated learned that taking the initiative to step up in the community leads to pleasant surprises. Some found themselves painting at the Covenant House while also discovering the talents of the people who reside there.  Others ventured to the South Shore Thrift Shop, the Atlantic City Rescue Mission and other locations for more eye opening experiences. Ultimately, the students who had originally had reservations about going off campus were buzzing with excitement over the new experiences the day had given them.

I am thrilled that I made the decision to step onto a bus and let the driver take me out into the community to help.  I was able to unearth a gem of the Atlantic City community I would not have found without the Stockton Day of Service.  A.H.E.A.R.T. Ministries is an inspiring group that I hope to volunteer with in the future. As I think back to it, my Day of Service is filled with fond memories of the people I was able to assist and of the strong leaders of A.H.E.A.R.T. Ministries who run the amazing organization. I am looking forward to the next Stockton Day of Service, ready to discover another wonderful service project in the community and learn how Stockton students can make a difference being involved with it.

8th Annual Day of Service

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My first commitment to service at Stockton was the 8th Annual Day of Service. I have volunteered in the past, but never to a type of organization similar to Career Opportunities Development Inc. This organization gives people who have had a rough past a chance to start over; these people could be ex-sex offenders, or ex-convicts. This non-profit organization strikes a fire of success in these individuals. Their workplace is where we spent our time making a difference. Dark. Dank. Depressing. Boring. The gray walls, gray floors, and jungle green work tables created a workplace that was lacking the most important quality of mundane work—motivation. After paint was shaken in its can, poured into trays, and dipped into rollers the transformation of the warehouse was complete. In less than three short hours a brand new spirit now lives within the building. All the building needed was ten Stockton students who were willing to sacrifice their time in order to better other peoples’ everyday lives. The walls were brightened to a mild yellow of a daisy, and all of the mixed matched tables were painted a chic metallic-esque gray. The trim and doors surrounding the walls are a light beige color allowing that cheery yellow to pop and bring a smile to anyone’s face that walks through the door. The creativity of this project was perfect and even though the volunteers originally signed up to do yard work painting was still very productive. These workers, who are currently checking pharmaceutical bottles for imperfections in order to prevent them from breaking when they are vacuum sealed, are going to be surprised and will embrace their new surroundings. They will be reminded that even though they might have lived through a rough past that they should appreciate being able to be classified as employed in such harsh economic times.

 

Sign Up for the Red Cross Blood Drive

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From Momina Ayub, Service Director:

Hope you guys had a great summer!!! To start off the semester we’re going to be having a Blood Drive On Tuesday September 20th and Wednesday September 21th in Big Blue from 9-3. I need people who want to volunteer to help out during the actual Blood Drive and to table for the event. We are tabling Sept. 14th- 19th from 9-5 in the Campus Center cafeteria. I’m attaching the sign up sheets so you guys can look at what times you’re available. You can email me your times at ayubm@go.stockton.edu if you want or you can sign up in the honors center on the “wall of paper” aka the door 😛