Towards the beginning of the year, it seemed hard at times to transition into college life. With so much changes, one can feel lost at times for what they are supposed to do and when. During one of the first full weeks on campus, the Stockton Entertainment Team, or SET, planned a movie night for Thursday. Think Like a Man 2 was shown in the campus center theater, free of charge, with incentives of a raffle and complimentary pretzels and drinks. Seeing as the movie was not yet out on DVD, it was a treat to get the privilege of seeing it before many others got to. The movie was extremely funny, as it turned out to be an extremely entertaining evening to break up hard classes and hours spent studying.
It was a shame that there were not an abundance of viewers, for the evening was a great alternative to doing destructive things at night. Seeing as partying is a major problem on college campuses across the country, proactive clubs offer events that will counteract such dangerous activities. SET thrives on the truth that there are more fun alternatives to do on campus rather than seeking out parties and underage drinking. It is to all students’ best advantage to use these free events on campus as a way to safely socialize that is also cost efficient. These movie nights apparently take place often throughout the month, giving students a way to unwind in the comfort of a plush chair. Since going to the first event, it has encouraged me to continue to seek out more with my friends. Stockton College makes great attempts to serve the students with academic excellence along with offering experiences outside of the classroom.

The “freshman fifteen” is a scary concept that haunts many incoming students. With the adjustment from high school to college, difficult classes, making new friends, and all other stresses can cause one’s body to react in strange ways. Since going to the gym is not that appealing to all, Stockton’s Zumba classes on Mondays and Wednesdays draw in many students for an hour of fun, stress-relieving exercise.

Two weeks ago, a group of friends from our specific building made a pact to attend the Zumba class together to avoid possible embarrassment from doing it alone. We were not all the best dancers, but the instructor taught easy moves that everyone was able to catch on to. It did not matter how talented anyone was in the realm of dancing, for each person there shimmied the best they could. Even with the sweat building up on peoples’ faces, there was no plea to leave the class early. This class seemed to bring all of those who attended together by joining them through fun dancing that burned calories.

Without stress of creating a gym routine and sticking to it, those at the class did not have to worry about what to do next, for their entire workout was planned for them by the more experienced. This class managed to lower the stress found in everyday life and allow people to let go of it for just a little while. The endorphins created from working out leaves people with more positive outlooks, and allowed me to sleep better. The Wellness Center did an excellent job at creating enjoyable programs, free of charge, for students to take that enable those to work out while making entertaining memories. By continually going to these events on campus, the student body will, overall become closer as a unified class that did their best to create a college experience that thrives from several different activities outside of the classroom.

The many lovers of volunteer work came together on the 11^th Annual Day of Service, September 6^th, 2014. It was such a great thing for all the students to be surrounded by equally motivated busy bees ready to take on what the day had in store. Coming from a high school career where I put so much time into community service, it was a relief to see that the college had dedicated a whole day just for volunteer work. The beginning of the day was set up smoothly with free breakfast and a complimentary t-shirt for those daring to wake up by 8 a.m. on a Saturday. The transition into the main hall appeared a bit hectic with everyone trying to find empty seats for a project, but the high energy welcomed everyone to try something they may have never thought to do before.

I, for one, ended up doing highway clean up with a sorority. One other freshmen accompanied me while we tried the best we could to appear confident among all the other upper-class men sorority members. We all blended well as we cleaned three miles worth of their adopted highway in the early heat. The various trash, alcohol bottles and fast-food garbage being popular, lined the grass along the side. It was a disheartening find to see the blatant disregard so many people feel for the nature around them that provides them with vital means to survive. The mountains of garbage bags we filled was a blatant reminder to how the environment is continually used and abused.

This particular service task may seem small, but it serves as a vital part in the bigger picture of environmental safety and awareness. Small high-way clean ups may not stop bigger problems, like global warming, but they are ways to educate the more immediate masses about how each individual can help on the smaller scale. Small steps fuel the need for change that all must contribute to. If no one attempts to clean up their own community, than no one will ever know how to begin to “clean up” the world.