On January 16, 2011 the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service kicked off with a huge turnout.  However, not all students contributed by participating in service per say.  Some very talented dancers and singers opened up the MLK Day of Service to show their appreciation for Martin Luther King Jr. and those being able to do the service itself.

There were several keynote speakers and performances done for the nearly 500 students participating in the service day.  Awards were given to children for a picture contest, speakers spoke of service and such, dancers did interpretive and group dances to songs about power and service, and various members of Stockton A Capella sang a moving song, “We Shall Overcome.”

The arrangement was simple but beautiful and moving.  Accompanied by Beverly Vaughn, the members of Stockton A Capella sang this moving song of overcoming struggle and hardship, which Martin Luther King Jr. did so many decades ago for the civil rights movement.  The few short verses were full of power and unity, especially evident when the members of Stockton A Capella held hands and the crowd joined in.  With everyone hand in hand and singing, I believe Martin Luther King Jr. would have been very proud to see so many different people together and preparing to do service.

I was fortunate enough to be part of the MLK Day of Service as a member of Stockton A Capella, and I hope next year to be an even bigger part of it when I perform service to the community as well.  All of the students seemed very empowered by our song, and I know that all went well that day with dedication to unity and service in their hearts.

Kenny Ambrose
Professor Rodriguez
Life of the Mind
November 21, 2012
Doing Service Learning
In the third weekend of the month of November, I traveled home for the first time since starting college back in August. While I was back visiting, I got the opportunity to complete my second required volunteer activity for the service learning part of the honors program. On Sunday the eighteenth, I walked with the Montgomery County 4-H Seeing Eye Puppy Club, in which I am a member, in the Lansdale, Pennsylvania Mardi Gras parade. I arrived at our meeting place around noon and from there we were driven to a small side street to wait in line for the parade to begin. We waited around for about an hour till the parade progressed enough for us to begin walking. We then followed our predecessors off the side street and onto Main Street in Lansdale. For members who had puppy they were training, they walked in a group the middle of the street; but since the last dog my family raised was sent back for formal Seeing Eye training a few months ago, I was not able to walk with them. Instead, I walked on the side of the street with a basket of dog treats. My job was to hand out dog biscuits to people that had a dog with them as they were watching. Even though it was a little cold out, there was a decent amount of people watching the parade, compared to previous years, and I gave out a good number of dog biscuits. In all, the walk took about an hour to travel about twenty blocks with the parade. I like doing activities like this with the Seeing Eye Puppy Club and I will continue to participate in the parade with them.

On November 30, 2011 a glorious a capella concert put on by Stockton A Capella was performed in the Campus Center Theater.  Stockata (the all female group), Stocktones (mixed group), and Stockapella (competition group), all performed several songs from several different eras.

The members of Stockata were introduced as the Rising Stars with their colors being black and purple.  Their a capella arrangements included Firework by Katy Perry, Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri, Fallin’ by Alicia Keys, and Heard It Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye. I was a soloist for Grapevine. There was some choreography involved, and even though there was no bass because there were no males, the arrangements were both beautiful and sophisticated.

Stocktones were the Underdogs in blue and black and sang many different songs as well.  The most notable were 21 Guns, Black Bird, and a mashup by the Jackson 5.  They had a bit more choreography and a few more songs that the new Stockata group, and their talent was just as magnificent.

Stockapella were the Undefeated in yellow and black. Their opener, One Day, had an amazing soloist and plenty of choreography.  They even lifted a girl into the air!  Their beat boxers were also right on target.

A beat box battle ensued at intermission with the audience being able to participate, and at the end, all of the groups sang Happy Ending.  There was so much energy and talent that night!

It was amazing to start my first semester of college as a member of Stockata.  Even though we had to see our president go (with a gift of flowers from all of us), it was a glorious experience to have such a great concert!  Hopefully the Spring concert is just as amazing!

On Tuesday, November 13^th, a friend of mine suggested that I attend a lecture with her.  She told me that it was on suicide prevention and would occur at 4:30pm in the Alton Auditorium.  Since I was free that evening and wanted to accompany her, I decided to attend.  When we arrived at the auditorium, I was surprised by the amount of people in attendance.  I thought the event would be small, personal, and perhaps to some people therapeutic.  However, when the lecture began, it was extremely factual, analytic and seemingly coldhearted.  I later found out that it was not a suicide prevention program.  It was actually a psychological analysis on suicide titled “The ‘I’ of the Storm: Understanding the Suicidal Mind”.  Throughout the event I was rather confused, but the lecture was very informative and interesting

The lecture was given by Dr. David Lester, a psychology professor here at Richard Stockton College.  He focused on the analysis of suicide letters and diaries of various people.  The objective of the study was to find out similarities between victims of suicide.  The victims were of all different backgrounds and no two situations were alike.  However, after much analysis by experts, an acronym was formed to describe common signs of the suicidal mind.  This acronym is ‘IS PATH WARM’: Ideation, Substance abuse, Purposelessness, Anxiety, Trapped, Hopelessness, Withdrawal, Anger, Recklessness, and Mood change.  Dr. Lester explained that while not all people show all of these signs, they are the most frequent.

Dr. Lester spoke of many people, some famous, some average, and some college students like myself.  One of which was a girl named Katie, who was the sister of one of his students.  She left behind a diary of her thoughts and feelings spanning the last few years of her life up to her death.  The diary demonstrated some trends found in victims of suicide and was referred to frequently throughout the lecture. 

The event ended with Dr. Lester concluding that there are no straightforward signs of a suicidal mind.  Every case was very unique and different.  Therefore, no concrete trends could be found.  Although this appears to be anticlimactic, it was a reassuring ending.  He also left some phone numbers for suicide prevention and conveyed a sympathetic tone throughout the lecture.  Understanding the suicidal mind was informative and helpful in coping with such a horrible tragedy.

On January 31^st, Stockton had the honor of hosting a hypnotist in the Campus Center.  He began by wowing the crowd with a card trick and a volunteer from the audience.  Then he asked for volunteers to be hypnotized.  My friends and I eagerly ran up to the stage.  I think I was hypnotized but I still remember everything that happened.  First he took a long time putting us to sleep.  It was very relaxing actually! I slumped forward in my chair while the people next to me began to sleep on me.  When he first started telling us things to do I was too tired to respond. Eventually I started doing little gestures.  I knew everything he said wasn’t real, but I could see some of the scenes he described to us perfectly, like the beach or flying the plane.  He told us to imagine an animal we want on our lap and I saw a baby unicorn!  I knew these animals were imaginary, but when someone said they had a tarantula I jumped on my friend next to me in fright!  I could hear all the silly things go on, like a guy giving birth, but I had trouble opening my eyes to see it all.  All in all, I wasn’t really hypnotized, just extremely sleepy.

I gave blood for the second time this school year on January 26^th 2012.  Since it was my fourth time giving blood I generally knew what to expect, but I swear each time it just gets easier and easier.  Not just from my experience, but from the American Red Cross workers who take your blood.  The workers just seem to get nicer and friendlier each time I go.  When I gave blood in high school, the workers made me feel like that this was just their job and nothing more, like they just wanted to get on with their day.  But when I gave blood this semester it was a totally different atmosphere.  The people that assisted me in the registration and the donating process were very friendly and tried to make the normally boring process fun and interesting.  They talked to me about my interests and this took away most of the pain and nervousness from the donating process.  One worker even informed me that my first and middle name was a song, which I never in my 19 years of life knew!  Also, the Red Cross has these new wipes that completely wipe away all the iodine they use to clean your arm before they put the needle in.  No more yellow, sticky arm for the rest of the day after you donate!  I’m really glad Stockton offers this opportunity for us twice a year to help save lives and make a difference.  I will most certainly be donating again.

The night of October 4^th was an exciting time for many Stockton residents, due to the free showing of the highly acclaimed Ted movie in the Campus Center.  But, for a small group of students and staff, the real thrill of the night was being featured in Alton Auditorium.  The event was the fifth annual Myths and Legends session, and seemed to be a much better learning experience than a talking teddy bear.

As in previous years, Myths and Legends featured a panel of past Stockton professors who have been with the school since it’s founding.  These men and women were kind enough to donate their time and knowledge, but they seemed to enjoy the experience just as much as the listeners.  In fact, it seemed that they cherished their visit here, using the time for reminiscing and bonding with long-time friends.  They almost seemed to forget the audience was present at some points, but that just added to the magic of the occasion; it was an honor to be listening in on such a personal conversation.  Their words flowed effortlessly between topics, interrupting and supporting each other as best friends do.

A recurring theme was the informality of the school in the past.  They mentioned living and working in the Mayflower hotel, partying with students, interacting with bums, drunks, and hookers, classes dedicated to sex, UFOs, and Ouija boards, and skinny dipping in Lake Fred.  And, rather than being ashamed of these possible felonies and questionable morals, the elders displayed a clear sense of pride at the history that they helped form.

This knowledge rattled me, for obvious reasons.  Until that day, I never truly pondered the origins of Richard Stockton College.  But now I look at the school I currently attend and think about the madness that it once was.  Despite everything, it is with a sense of pride that I ponder the intricate past of this seemingly innocent college. Naturally I consider the reverse situation, as if it was I who was on stage, talking lovingly about my cherished undergrad years.  Should such a situation ever arise, I hope that my stories are half as interesting as those heard on October 4^th.

On January 16 I attended the MLK Day of Service.  The event was similar to the Day of Service in the fall, except in the beginning they paid tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with art and speeches and songs.  Then we split off into our service projects.  I was with the Girl Scouts, which was interesting to me because I used to be a Girl Scout for many years.  In this group I made cute snowman rulers to give to day cares.  I also wrote and decorated many letters to give to the people currently serving our country abroad.  I didn’t want my cards to have the same generic stuff the soldiers see all the time, so I wrote some corny jokes in hopes of bringing a little humor into their lives and brightening their day.  This service project was nice because in a way I was helping three organizations.  I helped the day cares by making them the rulers.  I helped the soldiers by writing them letters.  And also in a way I helped the Girl Scouts because usually its just a group of little girls who does all that work.  Instead, I was able to help them make a bigger difference with their efforts.