On April 12^th, Cassidy Troy and I hosted our first ever dialogue session, entitled “Poverty Porn.”  The dialogue focused on misconceptions about poverty in developing countries and how best to help these countries through service projects and volunteer work.

The dialogue began after the monthly Honors meeting.  Everyone who attended was given two sticky notes and asked to write the first word that came to mind when they heard the words “poverty” and “service.”  After the dialogue, these words were used as a jumping-off point for a brief reflection session.  After placing the sticky notes on the board, we addressed common myths about developing countries and poverty, such as lack of resources, food shortages, foreign aid, and more.

A lot of people came out for the dialogue.  Cassidy and I put a lot of work into creating it, and were really glad that there was a nice turnout.  We tried to take a very serious subject and make it a bit more lighthearted, while still making clear the consequences of believing “poverty porn.”  We learned a lot while planning the dialogue, and hopefully we passed some of that knowledge on to the others honors students.  I really hope to do more dialogues and reflections in the future, and inspire others to reevaluate their service projects so that they help, and don’t hurt, the people they are trying to aid.

On March 28^th, the Honors Program hosted its annual Honors Scholars Day.  This event matches an incoming honors student with a current honors student to see what everyday life is like for students in the Honors Program at Stockton.  At 8am, mentees began filing into Meeting Room 5.  They were given a name tag, offered breakfast, and then whisked away by their mentors to class.

Mentees were matched up with mentors that had the same major as them for the most part, though there were a few mentees who had to be matched up with someone else.  On the whole, it was a great way for prospective Stockton Honors students to see first-hand what attending Stockton could be like.

My mentee was a geology major.  Luckily we had many requirements in common, and he seemed to enjoy the classes I brought him to.  It was a really great experience, and I had a lot of fun!  I attended Honors Scholars Day as a mentee last year, and it was really cool to see what college life would be like.  I loved taking part as a mentor this year – it was like my whole freshman honors experience had come full circle.  I can’t wait to do it again next year!

March 2^nd marked the Career Center’s annual Professional Etiquette Dinner.  For just five dollars, students were treated to a multi-course meal and instructed along the way on proper dining etiquette in business settings.

I learned a lot at the etiquette dinner, and realized I’d been doing a lot of stuff wrong!  I didn’t lay my napkin on my lap correctly; I should scoop soup away from me, not towards me; and I should put my knife down and eat with my dominant hand, instead of having knife and fork constantly at the ready.  Besides being taught all these things, the other students and I were also given the chance to ask our instructor questions.  I didn’t ask any, but the students who did were given really good answers.

Besides being taught etiquette, the other incredible thing about the dinner was the food.  I was amazed by how incredible it was!  There was a white bean escarole appetizer, followed by salad, soup, bread, a lemon sorbet, the entrée (fish, chicken, or a vegetarian option), and desert.  Everything was cooked to perfection, and I was stuffed by the end of the night!  If only I could have food like that every day…

The Professional Etiquette Dinner was a great experience.  I’ll definitely be attending next year to see how much I retained!

On Friday, February 19^th, Alpha Lambda Delta inducted its new members.  This National Honor Society for First Year Students also welcomed two honorary members, including Stockton President Dr. Harvey Kesselman.  Inducted students said ALD’s pledge, received their certificates of membership, and were treated to an Italian dinner, courtesy of Chartwells.

ALD, founded in 1924, admits students who have a GPA of at least 3.5 and are in the top 20% of their class.  In addition to academic excellence, ALD stresses volunteer work and offers $200,000 in scholarships a year to their members.  Though there is a small membership fee, it’s worth it, given the many opportunities the organization provides.

I really enjoyed the induction.  It was nice to see many of my fellow Honors students there and to get recognized for all my hard work.  The first semester of college can be really difficult, between adjusting to living alone, new classes, extracurriculars, and volunteer work, so the Alpha Lambda Delta induction really made me feel like it was all worth the hard work!  Though I can’t always make it to meetings because I have lab, I still try to get involved when I can.  Hopefully next semester I’ll be able to make it to all the meetings and get to take part in ALD’s many service projects.

On Wednesday, March 30^th in the Townsend Residential Life Center, three RAs held a “Safezone” training session.  Safeezone is a program aiming to inform students about the issues facing the LGBTQ+ community, as well as create a safe place for LGBT youth.  Each Stockton student who attended was given a Safezone sign to hang on their door knob, letting other students know that, if they needed it, help was available.  Each will also receive a certificate stating that they are Safezone certified in the future.

The program was extremely informative.  From 8pm to 10pm, about ten other students and I took part in many activities, including watching videos and matching LGBT terminology with definitions.  We also were read anti-LGBT or offensive statements and asked to group ourselves based on how confident we were that we could provide a calm, informative answer.  The training stressed this point in particular, making sure we knew that, in order to make real change, LGBT advocates must be calm, level-headed, and informed.

As a future high-school teacher, I thought becoming Safezone certified was incredibly important.  High school is a crucial time for LGBT youth, who are often just coming to terms with their sexuality and gender.  Teenagers can be cruel sometimes, and it’s important that LGBT teens know they are loved and appreciated, and that they have a safe place to go to if they need help.  I really enjoyed being Safezone trained, and I hope Education Majors at Stockton take the time to get certified, too!