Blog Post 3

Help Our Heroes
The Help Our Heroes event took place on November 9, 2016, which, not so coincidentally near Veteran’s Day. The event took place in The Townsend Residential Life Center (TRLC) at eight pm, and was intended to gather students and staff interested in supporting veterans who have served our country.
Technically, the event started a day early for me as I helped work on the poster for my floor. We brainstormed the night before and then created the poster the next day between classes. Now, our (super impressive) poster is hanging up in the TRLC and acts as a physical representation of our support for veterans. While at the actual event, which was set up nicely and run efficiently, a lot of the people present were freshmen. The event started with making cards for wounded veterans, and a large array of craft supplies was provided. Most people managed to make about five well thought out cards a piece, and the overall turnout was wonderful. There had to be over a hundred cards in the end, and the creativity put into each one was apparent.
While the volunteers were making the cards, an informational video played about veterans and what they endured in the past as well as what they endure in the aftermath. It is really shocking to see how little attention is paid to the people who risk their lives protecting this country. Actually, most people I was sitting with agreed that they never thought much about how people with missing limbs and physical disabilities due to war went on with their lives. As the video played, we finished our cards. The entire time there was also refreshments and snacks, which is always a great way to get young and broke college kids to volunteer and consequentially learn about a good cause.
Overall, the event was run thoroughly and was an excellent combination of informational learning as well as active participation. Not one person went who didn’t put time into making posters for the cause or making cards, and the feeling of gratitude towards those who protect this country was tangible in the room. It was a very good event to attend especially during the election when many people in the country are against one another. While appreciating veterans, people ignore these aspects of politics and instead feel grateful to have a protected country.

Freshman Blog Post 2

On October 12, 2016, the RA’s for D building held a one-time event to bring awareness to the common occurrence of people being labeled, more specifically at Stockton University. The event, which took place in a common room in D building, started with an exercise to demonstrate how easy it is to use stereotypes in groups of people. By putting labels on every person’s back and treating them as their label suggests, the participants could learn how even people who claim to never bully are still capable of using negative stereotypes. More specifically, everyone learned how it can hurt to degrade others to merely a label. The activity was repeated in multiple variations, but the reflection afterwards made the reasons for the activity come together. People should not use labels, or act as catalysts in promoting how others are labeled.

After this event, we did a less interactive activity that required a line on the floor. The RA’s would state certain traits people may have, from whether one considers Stockton their home to whether one has been in a relationship that has hurt them. The participants would step over the line for whichever statements applied to them. This was a good way to silently learn about the people around us. While students all talk and learn with the people around them every day, they rarely understand the deeper and more personal aspects of their lives like these.

To end the event on a more positive note, each person received a little jar, which they could put their name on. Then, everyone was given a few sticky-notes and markers. The RA’s instructed everyone to write down positive notes like what everyone is thankful for or looking forward to. Essentially, the jar was meant to be a ‘positivity jar’. The RA’s strongly urged everyone to continuously add to the jars throughout their experience at Stockton. In addition, we were all urged to not only put positive notes in other peoples’ jars, but into jars of those we aren’t well acquainted with.

The night was fun, and slightly Halloween themed. There was candy, pizza, and a movie afterwards, which made the event a lot more social after all of the memorable and educational aspects of the night. Overall, the event was an excellent balance between informational and entertaining. The labeling and jar activities both promoted social interaction and having fun while still maintaining the original purpose of the event, which is to be aware of the dangers of labeling. While the event did manage to get serious at times, everyone was having a lot of fun and seemed to enjoy the activities. The D building RA’s often go above and beyond in their planning and hands-on coordinating, and this wonderful Wednesday night in October was no different.

Day of Service Blog

Day of Service Review

One event at Stockton University that attracts a diverse crowd is the Day of Service where all sorts of volunteers come together once a semester and not only spend the day working towards benefiting the community, but also are able to work on self-growth and improvement.

The 2016 Fall Day of Service was on September 10, 2016 from 8:30am – 4pm at Stockton and sponsored by Stockton. I, along with my friend, assumed the volunteering was strictly the cliché garbage-cleanup and fundraising that is more often than not associated with the word ‘service’. However, the event was divided into numerous activities that actually made the event enjoyable for the volunteer without eliminating any of the benefits for the community.

The beginning was nice, with breakfast served in the form of a lovely array of food. After everyone settled in and was divided into four groups to help with organization, the first section I attended was one to raise political awareness. I was critical at first, since I never equated politics with serving the community at all. The organizers of this event were knowledgeable, though, and I found that with interactive activities and thorough explanations that it is the individual’s duty to realize their right to vote and have say in the government, and therefore use it, especially young adults like myself. By gaining an understanding of young adults’ effect on politics, I realized that giving my say and voting is a small act of serving the community in and of itself.

My friend and I were also among the few people who signed up and were allowed to receive training from certified EMS workers, where we were taught how to give CPR and where certain resources were around the campus in varying cases of danger. I wish that this event was less of a closed opportunity and that all volunteers could have experienced it, but I was lucky enough to receive the fun and useful training.

The next event my group did was working at individual tables to complete various tasks like making cards for sick patients at hospitals, making craft packets for St. Jude’s children, and creating pillows for those in need. Seeing what small amounts of effort can make various people happy really made me thankful and gave me a new perspective. An even more direct form of service, however, was that with the Stop Hunger Now Organization that had the volunteers putting together bags of essential foods and vitamins for people around the world suffering from hunger. It was an excellent way to promote teamwork amongst the volunteers as well; teams of five were employed to create the bags. Four people were in charge of putting different parts of the bag together; one person was in charge of rice, another in charge of soy, and so on. The fifth person was the one holding the bag under the funnel and switching it out. At first, it was difficult to complete each bag of food and the group was slow, but after we got into a certain pattern it was really easy to complete each bag and we ended up working very quickly. At the end of the event, the entire volunteer population ended up making thousands of bags. This event really put the dangers of hunger into perspective, since hunger is not something most people who attend Stockton have to worry about. After this, there was a brief reflection session, where everyone agreed that the event was run very smoothly and professionally, and was an excellent way to impact the community and the world for the better.

Overall, the event was run very efficiently by the coordinators and everyone else involved. I enjoyed the event as both a volunteer and as an individual as I learned about issues both inside and outside of the community and how to help.