Today I participated in Stockton College Day of Service.  For my service project for the day I decided to help Books Without Borders.  This organization is an on-campus club that collects, sorts and donates books.  The books go to students in third world countries who lack sufficient educational materials.  The hope of this organization is to spread education throughout the world.

During the Day of Service we assisted in the sorting of the donated books.  When I picked this project I was under the impression that we would be inside in the air conditioning while we sorted the books.  However, to my surprise, they walked us outside as soon as we were told to exit the Event Room.  Not only did we go outside, but we walked for quite some time out to trailers that were sitting within the trees.  Once we got to the location of the books we began to move the boxes out of the trailer.  We made an assembly line of people and handed the boxes down.  This worked very well and we were done faster than the coordinators had expected.

After removing the boxes from the trailer, we began to sort them by genre.  At first, the amount of books that there were to sort was intimidating.  However, there were plenty of people who volunteered to help with this event and they were all good at getting the job done.  Soon the many boxes of unorganized books turned into just a few.  Soon after that, the unorganized books were nonexistent and everything was sorted.  A task that seemed at first to be impossible got done quickly because of the hard work of all of the volunteers working on the project.

In the end I was happy to have worked to help Books Without Borders, even if it did mean the project was being held outside.  What this club is doing for the world is something amazing.  Education is one of the most important things for a successful person to have.  By sending these books out to third world countries, Books Without Borders is spreading the wonderful gift of education throughout the world.

Tonight the first and second floors of the Freshman D Building got together to watch 13 Going on 30.  This floor program was put on by our RAs because the movie reflects our move into college.  In the movie, 13-year-old Jenna Rink makes a wish to be 30 years old and she wakes up the next morning as the 30-year-old version of herself.  Almost overnight we went from being children living under our parents’ constant supervision to being almost adults, doing what we want to do with our new found freedom.

Jenna Rink relates to a new college student in that her expectations differ from reality.  Jenna wants to be 30 because of things that she sees in magazines, which glorify that age.  She is having a tough time feeling beautiful and wanted as a 13-year-old and believes that when she is 30 everything will be perfect.  However, when Jenna actually wakes up at age 30 she learns that not everything is as she expected it.  She still has to deal with mean girls, she has to work hard to keep her old friendships and when things get really hard she even winds up going back to her parents for a little while.

Jenna’s shock about what the world of being 30 is like is sort of like the realization of the reality of college.  Throughout all of last year I wanted nothing more than to leave for college.  I wanted to live away from my parents. I wanted to make new friends.  I had this illusion that I was going to be friends with everyone because college meant a new me and I thought I was going to be the best at making friends as this new person.  Now that I am here it is great in many aspects, but I have hit reality in some areas.  I am the type of person who likes to have alone time.  Coming to college did not make me someone who wants to socialize non-stop in order to make friends with everyone.  I still like my alone time.  It is great living away from my parents, but I do miss having my favorite dinner or my laundry magically cleaning itself and sitting there waiting to be folded.  And now that classes have started reality has really hit.  This is school, which means school work and all the stress that comes with it.  This new chapter of my life may be awesome, but it is not going to automatically be as perfect as I imagined it. I am still going to have to work for it.

At the end of the movie we did talk about how it relates to our own lives and the lessons found in 13 Going on 30.  Some of the lessons that appeared in the movie were things such as watch who you choose to be friends with, hold on tightly to your true friends, and do not grow up too fast.  All of these are good to remember as we start this new chapter of our lives.  Watching this movie was the perfect floor program as we start our lives here at Stockton.

Tonight my RA had our final floor program for the year titled “Plant Seeds for the Future”. Most of the girls on my floor attended the program along with people who are here so often they might as well live on D200 with us. This program was a great way to reflect on our freshman year of college.

The activity that we did for the program was adorable. Every person received his or her own flowerpot. Everyone painted their flowerpots however they chose to do so. I painted my flowerpot pink with a blue rim. I put green polka dots within the blue, but it still needed one more thing. I decided to write “Stay Positive” in purple because those words are what got me through this year. When things are looking down I try to continue looking up. While it is sometimes a struggle, it is effective and everything always works out in the end. I also put a smiley face on the flowerpot as a finishing touch.

Once we were done painting, we put soil into the flowerpots and picked out the type of flowers that we wanted to plant. When we were planting our flowers everyone seemed to be confused about the proper way to plant. I was clueless, so I just stuck the seeds wherever and then watered them. After we watered our flowers, everyone’s flowerpots started to leak. That’s when we realized all of the flowerpots had small holes in the bottom. You would think a group of honors students would be able to figure out this problem to begin with.

Throughout the program people shared their best memories of their time on the floor. Everyone seems to have had a great time this year. While it is sad to see this year end, I am excited to see what the seeds of my future grow into.

Stockton University is bringing a new sorority to campus next semester, Delta Phi Epsilon, which is also known as DPhiE. On Tuesday, I went to an interest meeting about being a founding member of this sorority at Stockton.

The opportunity to be a founder of a sorority is amazing. As a founder, you would get to decide how you want the sorority to be seen here on campus. You would be able to create a lasting impression about what it means to be a sister of this sorority on the Stockton campus. Founders get to choose things such the annual events of the sorority and how the process recruitment will be done each year.

Even more amazing than being the founder of a sorority is the opportunity to be a sister of DPhiE. The sorority’s motto is “Esse Quam Videri” which means, “To be rather than seem to be”. DPhiE sisters aim to be the best possible versions of themselves. They do not want people to change in order to fit into some kind of “sorority girl mold”. They know that every person is wonderful in their own way and they strive to bring out the best in everyone.

DPhiE works with two philanthropies: The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD). Both of these philanthropies are dear to the hearts of the DPhiE sisters as they personally relate to alumni of the sorority. When raising money for ANAD, DPhiE sisters host events that are all about loving yourself. The huge emphasis that they put on being comfortable in your own skin really makes DPhiE stand out. This idea draws people to the sorority who otherwise would have never even considered being involved in Greek life.

On top of that, their mascot is the unicorn.

DPhiE will start recruitment events in search for founding members at the beginning of the Fall 2015 semester.

For the past two weeks I have attended the Thursday yoga class sponsored by the Wellness Center. This class is held every Thursday in the TRLC from 6:30 to 7:30. This is a free class opened to all Stockton students.

I went to my first class without a mat, but luckily the instructor had a few extra ones for people like me. If anyone is planning on attending a yoga class I suggest bringing your own mat, as mats are limited.

We started both classes with the Tibetan Five Rites. This exercise consists of five poses and quickly raises your heartbeat. The instructor told us to try to do the Five Rites every day as it is a quick exercise that will gradually make your body stronger.

In the first yoga class I went to, we did a form of yoga that is meant to make you sweat. The poses were challenging for me, and at times it felt like I was in an aerobics class. By the end of the class I was definitely sweating. However, there were still several times when we were doing poses and staying in them for a while. My favorite pose was heart bench. In this pose, you place one foam block between your shoulder blades and one under your head. Then you lie still for several minutes. This pose felt great for my back.

In the second class that I went to, we did Yin Yoga. This form of yoga is intended to channel your connecting tissue. It is done by getting into a pose and then releasing all of the tension in your body. Once you are in the pose with no tension, you stay still for several minutes. By the end of the class I felt relaxed, my body felt stretched, and it was just wonderful overall.

I would recommend this yoga class to anyone interested in the free fitness classes offered by Stockton.

On March 24, I attended a drag queen show sponsored by the Stockton University Pride Alliance. The show was intended to build awareness of AIDS and HIV.

The day before the show, members of the Price Alliance walked around the Campus Center food court with bags of candy. They had wrapped a piece of paper around each individual piece of candy that advertised their event. I thought this was the best way that you could advertise an event to college students.

My friend and I decided that we would go to the show the next day. We got to the show and donated to the cause before going inside. When we got into the auditorium, it was much emptier than I had expected. I believe this was due to people not knowing about the event rather than disinterest in the event. When I was telling some of my friends that hadn’t been with me when Pride Alliance members came to our table about the event, they were sad that they had not heard about it. If this event is done in the future, I hope they advertise more, because they could get much more people to the event and donating to the cause.

There were two queens who performed several dance numbers for the length of the show. Their costumes were fantastic and I’m jealous of how well they were able to dance in heels. I can’t even confidently walk in heels.

In the middle of the show, there was a break to talk about how to prevent the spread of diseases such as AIDS and HIV, since awareness was the purpose of this event. We were informed of the preventative measures available and the proper way to use them.

On Sunday March 22, I went on a bus trip to New York City that was sponsored by SET and the Hillel Club. The cost of this trip was only fifteen dollars and included transportation to and from New York City and a ticket to see an off Broadway production of Avenue Q.

When we got to New York we were given several hours to walk around the area and do whatever we wanted. So of course, my friends and I started our day with the Disney store. I browsed all of the wonderful Disney merchandise that I could not afford, and left with a small Olaf Tsum Tsum for my mom. If you do not know what this item is, I suggest looking it up. It was kind of creepy looking, but at the same time I felt like it needed to have a home on my mom’s work desk.

After the Disney store we went to Ellen’s Stardust Diner. This was the best dining experience I have ever had. Instead of having music on in the background, the wait staff takes turns performing. Everyone who works there has either been on Broadway and is in between shows, or they dream of being on Broadway. Every one of them was amazing. At one point it was our waitress’s turn to sing, but she was in the middle of doing normal waitress things. Because of this, she started her song and continued to swipe credit cards and pour coffee, and it had no effect on her performance. When she was done with what she was doing, she walked to the stage to complete her song. The stage was the ledge between the booths and I had no idea it was the stage until one of my friends told me they would be walking right behind me.

At one point, one of the performers was singing on the stage behind me. Then I felt my hair stand up and realized he was messing with me. After that, he began to sing to me, so I sang back. He pointed the microphone at me and I got to sing about one and a half lines of the song into the mic before he took it back. It was pretty awesome getting my five second solo.

When we finished lunch, we went to the Hershey and M&Ms stores. My goal was to buy a piece of chocolate that was bigger than it should be; however, I decided to save my money to get a souvenir from the show.

After shopping for chocolate, we went to the show. Avenue Q was hysterical, but it was definitely an adult show. There were some children in the audience, and I am assuming their parents had no clue what happened in the show. One of my friends pointed out, “Once you sit with your parents and watch puppets have sex, your relationship never goes back to what it was.” That was in fact one of the scenes in the show, and I am assuming those children have been scarred for life. Although some scenes made me uncomfortable, I laughed throughout the whole show.

I was really happy with this entire trip and I am excited to go on next year’s New York City bus trip.

On March 4, 2015, I attended Stockton’s Business Etiquette Dinner. I was invited to this dinner by one of my professors. It was a valuable experience and I am honored that she asked me to be her guest.

At this dinner, we learned the proper etiquette for any sort of business dinner. This could be either an interview over dinner, or some sort of business meeting. We were served a five-course meal for this dinner, and with each course we were instructed on the proper way to eat. The presentation began with an explanation of what every piece of silverware was for. We were also instructed to always follow the person hosting the dinner event for cues such as when to begin eating. Once we went over these basics, dinner began to be served.

First, we were served rolls and soup. We were instructed to rip or cut off a bite-sized piece of the roll. Then butter that individual piece and eat it. This is how we were told to eat the entire roll. The presenter mentioned that it was not proper to dip the roll in the soup, so remember that.

When I finished my roll I moved on to my soup. I had put this off because the soup had corn floating in it. I like corn, but when it is in things it kind of freaks me out. However, to avoid being improper, I ate the soup. We were given an entire slide on how to eat soup, so I was sure to sip it from the side of the spoon and to avoid making a slurping noise. The soup was surprisingly delicious, even with the freaky corn. Relieved, I finished my soup in this same, proper manner.

The next portion of the meal was our salads. I learned that if you are given two knives, which we were, one is for salad. As strange as I thought it was, I ate my salad with both my knife and fork. After the salad we were given lemon sorbet. There were no real instructions for this portion other than to not eat the lemon that held the sorbet. The lemon was strictly for presentation.

As we finished the lemon sorbet, I realized I had to get to my night class. I tried to excuse myself quietly; however, my professor did not want to let me leave without food. Because of this, my attempt at leaving caused quite a scene; however, my embarrassment eventually faded and I left with what I would have been given for dinner. After my class, I was grateful to have the dinner with me, even though obtaining it did cause a bit of a scene. Chartwells did a great job with the food for this dinner and I still do not understand why N-wing food does not taste like the food they serve at these events.

On February 24^th, I attended a D200 floor program run by my RA, Julie Eller. This was a Service Learning program titled Express Empowerment. The program began with food, which is important for any great program. As we ate our mozzarella sticks and vegetables, Julie explained to us the point of the program. We have so many social media platforms that we can be using to change the world. She wanted us to start doing something about that.

Julie showed us pictures of people with protest signs addressing all sorts of issues. Our instructions were to create a protest sign dealing with an issue that we feel passionate about. Then she would take our picture holding our sign. Once she put the pictures on the Internet, it would be our job to share ours and explain what our sign was talking about. She wanted us to take over social media with issues that really matter.

For my sign, I knew I wanted to do something that addresses the way college-aged girls are treated. A few months back I was extremely moved by the #yesallwomen conversation on Twitter. This conversation was created after a boy went on a shooting rampage on a college campus targeting sorority girls on a college campus. After the Twitter world exploded with women pointing out that that boy’s though process stems from our society’s idea that men have entitlement to women, men shot back with #notallmen. This conversation said that not all men have those thoughts. Women fired back with #yesallwomen saying that while not all men feel entitled to women, all women have to live their lives worrying about the men who do.

That conversation is what created my feminist side; however, there was a problem that I noticed throughout many of the tweets on that page. In many of the tweets talking about how slut shaming is wrong, women would say things that could be taken as offensive towards girls who choose to wait to have sex until they are married. I strongly believe that what you choose to do with your body is nobody’s business but your own. If you want to have sex go out and have as much sex as you want. I hope you make safe choices and you have a great time. If you want to wait to have sex, then go out and have fun without having sex. Nobody has any right to say anything to you about either choice.

In order to figure out what to put on my protest sign, I consulted the #yesallwomen conversation. Then I found a quote from the breakfast club, “If you haven’t you’re a prude. If you have, you’re a slut. It’s a trap.” This quote is from 1985, and it automatically made me think of a line from a 2013 Kacey Musgraves song, “If you save yourself for marriage you’re a bore. If you don’t save yourself for marriage you’re a whore…ible person.” These quotes, almost thirty years apart, show that this issue is nothing new and also that it has yet to be fixed. This is what gave me the idea for my sign, which is shown here:

Once Julie put the pictures online, I made a Facebook post detailing where my ideas for the sign came from and why this was the quote I chose to present on my sign. I was shocked by the reaction that I got on the post. There were people who I rarely talk to commenting positively on the post. One girl who I am Facebook friends with only because we go to Stockton even shared my post. Julie also hung our pictures up in the library and one girl from our floor caught someone who we do not know looking at the pictures of us with our signs. This program was amazing and it really makes me want to do more to get my voice heard.

On February 20^th, I attended the Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Society induction for new members. This event honored the freshman that had been accepted, and accepted their acceptance into ALD this year.

When I walked into the event, I saw that it was set up as a formal, buffet-style dinner. The ceremony started with Stockapella singing the National Anthem, which was beautiful. Then some of the officers of ALD spoke about the program. Dr. Rosner also spoke, explaining how Stockton’s chapter of ALD came to be what it is today. The program is rather young at Stockton, but the students who make up ALD have been working hard and are rapidly increasing the reach of ALD activities.

After the opening remarks, the induction began. For the ceremony, the officer speaking would read the names of new members. Whenever a new member’s name was said, they would stand up and turn on an electric candle. I am happy that we used electric candles rather than real ones. I have been to plenty of ceremonies where real candles are used, and I do not feel safe with hundreds of people holding lit candles. Especially not if any of those people are as clumsy as me. After the induction, the Provost spoke as this year’s honorary ALD member. Then to end the ceremony, Stockapella sang Stockton’s Alma Mater.

After the ceremony, dinner was served. Once again, Chartwells did a great job with the food for an event. I still do not understand why we can have good tasting food at events, but N-Wing food continues to be full of disappointment. My favorite thing was the chicken tenders, and I really do not think that it is too much to ask that those chicken tenders be served in N-Wing.

Anyway, the food was great and I had fun talking to the people at my table. At the end of the event, I received my member certificate and pin. I am excited to be a part of this great organization.