For my third Stockton Event of the semester, I chose to attend the Girl Rising movie screening on Tuesday, November 19^th.  It was held in the Alton Auditorium at 4:30 PM and lasted approximately ninety minutes. The event functioned as both a Reflection Session and Dialogue Session through the Office of Service Learning. I decided to attend the event because I wanted to learn more about the film’s mission to educate a greater number of women globally.

The film presented the stories of nine different girls and their struggles against slavery, sexual abuse and poverty. Girl Rising advocates for more widespread access to education for girls. The campaign highlights the impact that education can have on women’s lives. According to the film, 65 million girls are not enrolled in school globally and that two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population are women. Interestingly, for every extra year of education they receive, girls earn 20% more money. Also, the film asserted that if India enrolled 1% more girls in secondary school, its GDP would rise by $5.5 billion. Girl Rising demonstrated the social and economic value in educating females that I previously was unaware of.  Following the screening of the film, a brief question and answer session was held.

Aside from being informative about the problems with global education, the event demonstrated that many fellow Stockton students are concerned with the impact and availability of education worldwide. I enjoyed the event and would recommend watching Girl Rising to learn more about educational inequality throughout the world.

For my second Stockton event I chose to attend the Get Involved Fair on campus.  The Get Involved Fair was hosted on September 17^th and 18^th in the Main Campus Building in Wings A through J.  The Fair attracts nearly one hundred student clubs and community service agencies.  I decided to attend this event because I wanted to join a few clubs to occupy my time productively and to meet new students at Stockton who share similar interests.

I attended the Get Involved Fair on the 17^th with two of my friends from high school, Sarah and Erica, who also go to Stockton.  The Fair was busy and the A through J Wings were filled with students looking for clubs to join.  I was at the fair for approximately an hour and met club officers and other student members of clubs I wanted to join.  I decided to sign up for two clubs, the Stockton Circle-K and the Animal Friendly Organization.  Circle-K is a service club that participates in volunteer work throughout the community.  I participated in Key Club, a similar service club, during high school and figured that I would enjoy Circle-K activities.  I signed up for the Stockton Animal Friendly Organization because I enjoy helping out with my local animal shelter in Cape May and because I recognize the value of animal rights.  I was a vegan during my sophomore and junior year of high school and am currently in the process of switching back to an animal-free diet. I care about the furry critters of this planet and I wanted to socialize and volunteer with other students who share my same ideas.

The Get Involved Fair hosted many clubs in addition to the two I selected.  The wide array of club options was almost overwhelming but it also a positive sign that students can be involved on campus according to their specific interest.  The club tables were organized neatly on either side of the hallways and the current club members were helpful in answering my questions.  I will definitely be attending the Get Involved Fair again to sign up for a few more intriguing organizations.

            For my first Stockton event I chose to help with the Red Cross Blood Drive on campus. I volunteered to work the sign-up tables in the Campus Center for a few hours one afternoon, and also decided to donate blood at the drive. During high school I participated in campaigns for an annual Blood Drive; I signed fellow classmates up to donate and helped organize the post-donation snacks. Having enjoyed my previous experience, I decided that Stockton’s Blood Drive would be an appropriate entrance into the service-learning requirement.

The first day of sign-ups was fairly successful during the time I was there. Tables were set up around the lower floor of the Campus Center food court and a sign-up sheet with a multitude of time slots was provided for students. I tried to answer any questions that potential donors had and gave out paper reminders with the date and time of their scheduled appointment. Unfortunately, appointments did not keep to the schedule on the actual day.

On Thursday, I had a 12:45 appointment; as courtesy, I arrived fifteen minutes early. After waiting in the staging area for approximately an hour, I moved on to the computer questionnaire and eventually began giving blood an hour and thirty minutes after the appointment time dictated. Every Red Cross employee I encountered was friendly and professional; and, despite the minor inconvenience, it was rewarding to help “save up to three lives,” as the slogan says. For subsequent blood drives, I would strongly recommend a punctual scheduling and donating process; but otherwise, I would like to commend all of the Stockton students and Red Cross volunteers for donating their time and effort to successfully complete the drive!