On November seventeenth `at 4:35pm I attended the Winter Extravaganza event, hosted by the Commuters on the Go Club. This was a service event, which involved making holiday themed ornaments and decorations for a nursing home. There were suitable supplies for the crafts, including glitter, snowflakes, glue, and other arts and crafts materials. In addition, the club provided snacks such as cookies and lemonade and played holiday music to set the mood for the activity. The leaders of the club were kind and helpful throughout the event and took most of the responsibility afterwards for cleaning up the spilled crafts and glitter. Moreover, the snacks combined with the creative aspect of the project created a lighthearted atmosphere that made community service, something many students resent, into a fun and stress-relieving activity.  Overall, the Commuters on the Go Winter Extravaganza was a fun way to spend time with friends while simultaneously making a difference in the community, and it provided a way for students to harness their creativity while also making a positive impact.

On October twenty-second at 2:10 p.m., I attended a dialogue session entitled From MARS Major to Mars Scientist in L112, a program about Stockton alumna Dina Bower and her professional journey from a marine science major at Stockton University to an astrobiologist. Bower was originally interested in marine chemistry but when offered an opportunity to pursue graduate research in astrobiology didn’t hesitate to seize the opportunity. The accomplished scientist now uses her knowledge of oceanography, chemistry, and geology to attempt to find evidence of previous life on other planets, and she is currently focusing her research specifically on Mars. Bower commenced her presentation by describing her original goals and how she ended up in astrobiology instead and then spent the remainder of the time describing her graduate work and recent research.. Dr. Bower’s speech was incredibly thorough, detailing her experimental designs, describing the equipment used, and including photographs and data charts of her discoveries. Although much of the research was difficult for me to comprehend as a freshman undergraduate, she did keep the audience frequently engaged with pictures, questions, and personal stories. Bower even remained in the room afterward to answer individual questions and allow students to view her collection of rocks from Mars. Overall, it was enlightening to hear about a career I never thought would have been an option for a marine science major!

On September twenty-third the Stockton Pride Alliance held their first event, a Bi Visibility Cafe, at eight p.m. in the campus center to celebrate Bisexual Awareness Day. In general, the concept of the event, a forum specifically for multisexuals (an umbrella term referring to anyone attracted to more than one gender, including bisexuals, polysexuals, pansexuals, and individuals who prefer not to use labels), was a satisfying change, when most LGBT spaces tend to center around monosexual gay people, and bisexuals are rarely given a loud voice in the community. Furthermore, the atmosphere was immediately welcoming. I initially sat by myself far from the stage and was quickly approached by the club’s vice president, who explained the event and invited me to move closer, where luckily I ran into some friends. The event primarily centered around an open mic night for multisexuals to share personal stories, songs, and poetry, and several tables were set up with snacks and drinks such as cookies, fruit, soda, and coffee. The board members put significant effort into keeping the event moving, frequently making announcements or doing improvised acts whenever there was a break in performances, as well as encouraging audience members to come up and share their experiences. About halfway through, the vice president of the Pride Alliance went around to every table and spent several minutes chatting with each person who had attended, looking for feedback and trying to make sure the event was successful. Overall, the performances were insightful, often entertaining, and the audience was welcoming and respectful. Moreover, the event provided some much-needed visibility to a part of the community that so frequently struggles with erasure.