On Tuesday September 15, 2015, a workshop was offered to any student interested in joining a sorority or fraternity. The topic of the workshop was hazing. Hazing is sadly a common practice in some organized groups. Hazing is anything that the new members must do that the rest of the members do not participate in, or if other members put pressure on new members to do any activity. Even if a new member willing agrees to do an activity, it is still hazing. Hazing is a common issue in sports teams and is a well-known problem with sororities and fraternities.

We learned about three different types of hazing and the effects of each type. It is rare in 2015 to see physical hazing, although other forms of hazing still exist. We also learned that hazing is not acceptable, even if was considered tradition in the group. Students were encouraged to report any problems they have with hazing to the Campus Police or Dean of Students. Any activities that a pledge class must complete should have a clear purpose of helping the members become closer or educated on the sorority/fraternity. Deaths have occurred when these rules were not followed. Students were informed that no alcohol should be present in the room of any pledge activities, regardless of the pledge’s age. This rule is made by the national sororities/fraternities. I personally believe that hazing education should be provided before high school because frequently sports teams or other activities haze freshman in high school. The meeting was highly informational. The presenter asked a lot of questions to keep the participants involved. He also shared his personal stories of hazing, which made the presentation much more relatable.

On Wednesday September 10, 2015, many students gathered together to the Meet the Greeks event. It was held in the Event Room in the Campus Center. It started at 8:00 PM and went on until about 9:30 PM. The room was set up with many stations a student could rotate about at their leisure. The set up was designed for optimal comfort and interaction for both the sororities/fraternities and the possible pledges. All sororities and fraternities that are recognized by the university had a table set up to encourage potential pledges to join. There was also a table for all Panhellenic sororities together to collect the information of potential new members. Each also had representatives to explain the key points of their sororities/fraternities and share their personal experience with their sisters/brothers. The representatives were very professional, exceptionally friendly, and very interested in new members. For new chapters here at Stockton, members form other chapters nearby came to represent nationals, who will be holding the recruitment. The environment was very comforting, especially for freshman whom may not have met a lot of people yet. The sororities/fraternities all had colorful displays to present themselves. Their letters were displayed in a huge way. Many of them had letters set up that were three feet tall and everyone had some form of their letters present. The sororities/fraternities colors were also clearly present at each booth as well. The members also eagerly talked about their colors and some of their traditions. They also had information on the charity they support, as well as pictures form the many social events they offer and do together. All representatives of sororities/fraternities were wearing their letters and often their colors as well. One sorority had a scrapbook with all of one pledge class in it. Another had a picture book with different events they did in the past years. All sororities’/fraternities’ offer formals once per year. These take place in the spring. Some sororities’/fraternities’ offer other dances and other various social events throughout the year. The Panhellenic sororities/fraternities offer a formal rush in the spring and create a pledge class to become part of their chapter. Each chapter here at Stockton has approximately 75 sisters/brothers, depending on the chapter.

Zumba is a great way to get in shape and have fun with friends. On Wednesday, September 9, 2015, the wellness center began offering Zumba classes to students. These classes take place in the left side (when outside of the gym) of the large I-wing gym, and the cost is included in tuition.

Nearly 100 students came out to the Zumba lesson. It was a bit crowded; however, the participants made due with the space. These classes last one hour and take place at 6:45 PM on Monday and Wednesday evenings. The Zumba class had an energetic instructress and two other instructors to assist her. The dancing was high energy and often to popular songs. The music was loud and could easily be heard from across the room. The dance movements were simple, but required a high amount of energy. The dance style was mostly jazz with some movements from hip-hop. The movements tended to flow together and match the song they were choreographed to. Most of the participants were female, although a few males were present. Participants dressed in exercise attire and sneakers instead of leotards, tights and jazz shoes. At the end of the session, a cool-down song and routine was used, however, the warm-up routine focused on cardio warm up and focused little on stretching individual mussels. We performed approximately fifteen routines.

Traditionally in Zumba, the teacher does a dance pattern with the class and the class follows the best they can. This class followed the traditional model; however, due to the size of the class, word cues were not used to announce the steps. Short breaks were given for participants to get water and rest for a moment. Participants typically came in groups and utilized this time to chat with friends. The only issue with the class was that the instructor could not be seen by all of the students, simply because of the class size. It would be great if the instructor was video recorded and put up on a large screen, or if the instructor had a stage or raised platform to use, so she could be seen at some distance. Students in the back had to look to students in the front to see what step to do and sometimes could not distinguish the step, as each participant does each step a little bit differently.

The class was over all a large success because many students got a great workout and learned a new skill in the process.

On Thursday September 10, 2015, at 4:30 PM the CARE program at Stockton University offered a free time management workshop. The CARE program is part of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities. It was held in room C012, which is a small classroom in the C wing. The workshop was offered twice, on two different days, times and locations. The workshop lasted an hour and provided many meaningful tips.

The event started with participants arriving and being swiped in. Upon being welcomed, participants were invited to take a slice of pizza and drink. The drink choices included water, Pepsi, and other sodas. The pizza varieties offered were plain, peperoni, and veggie. There was more than enough food for the participants to enjoy. Once a student received her food, she could sit down and prepare for the workshop to begin. In the first session only three students were present. A PowerPoint slide show was printed out for each participant to take notes on and take home. This allowed participants to remind themselves of the material they learned and be able to slowly implement the techniques. The down side of the Power Point was that is was not overly interactive, making the workshop appear as more of a class with content to memorize, than a workshop to learn a new skill. Students discussed the tasks of remembering their schedule; making a list of tasks to do, prioritize that list; promise to do clear, defined things, not just vague ideas of jobs to do; plan for free time; and keep updating the list of tasks to complete. This workshop recommended using resources such as a planner, calendar, or electronic device to schedule events and lists.

The session was highly informational. I would recommend it to anyone having trouble with time management, if, he can manage his time enough to fit this into his schedule.

On Friday, September 11, 2015, the Stockton Entertainment Team offered an exciting opportunity to tie-dye T-shirts. This was held at 4:00 PM and was scheduled to last until 6:00 PM. It ended early, due to limited supplies. Three long tables were set out on the quad next to the TRLC building and two were set up next to the picnic tables on the sidewalk of the TRLC building. The two tables were used for registration. After being welcomed and having our cards swiped, we could get in line for a T-shirt. Many sizes were available and neatly arranged for participants’ convenience. At the next table participants received gloves to wear as they used the dyes. Then, students moved to the three large tables on the Quad. Each of these tables were equipped with a plastic, disposable table cloth, several rubber bands and many spray bottles of tie-dye. The activity was very popular and a bit crowded, but manageable. The colors of tie-dye included red, orange, yellow, green, teal, blue, purple, pink and black. Naturally, many students created brown by mixing colors.

Students began the dyeing process by balling up their T-shirt and putting rubber bands around it to keep it together. Then, they sprayed the colors they wanted onto their T-shirt. Some students elected to unroll their T-shirt to get color into the area that was covered up when the shirt was balled up. Other students kept their T-shirt in a ball to maintain the clear tie-dye look. Regardless of the decision, when the participant was satisfied with her T-shirt, she could move to the last step. The last step was placing the shirt into square of torn white plastic, creating a bag out of it, and using a rubber band to close it off. This process took place at the table where shirts were given out. Once the T-shirt was placed in its plastic sheet, the student was free to go. All participants were encouraged to wash their T-shirts a few days after the event. Participants were given clear and repeated instructions to wash them alone and not with any other clothing, sheets or towels, as the dye will most likely come off of the T-shirt and stain anything that comes in contact with it.

This was a great event for students to communicate and get to know each other. By sharing the dyes and tables, students could make new friends and have fun.

On Wednesday, September 16, 2015, the wellness center at Stockton University offered a Soul Collage program. Every Wednesday this program is offered to all students. It is held in the Wellness Center conference room. The first meeting of the year was on September 16, and three students were present. The event started at 5:00 and lasted until about 6:20.

Once students arrived they were given a cardboard rectangular board. The board was about four by eight inches. Magazines and catalogs were scattered on the table, along with scissors and glue. All participants were encouraged to cut pieces of the magazines to create a collage. The project could have a theme, or not. By pulling different images, participants could spark their imagination and creativity. There was a wide variety of images available. Some included animals, celebrities, nature images, word art, and children. Once a participant selected her background piece of magazine paper, she could begin working on the other objects in the design. After nearly an hour of work, participants are given a time to clean up and refocus. Students are given a plastic sleeve to put their projects into. This makes the imperfections harder to see and also makes them easy to display. As a group each person shares her card and explains the cards significance to them. When it is a person’s turn he speaks as though he is the card. He may say the card is sad or happy or neutral. Each person can interoperate a card differently, making the reflection unique for each person. The purpose of the activity is to engage both sides of the brain in a therapeutic activity. Most of the students participating do not enjoy the explanation for their card as much as making the card. I really enjoyed this activity and cannot figure out why more students do not participate in it.

San Andreas movie night was a very exciting event at Stockton. The event was held in the Campus center Theater at 9:00 PM. It was offered twice, once on Thursday, September 10, 2015, and once on Saturday, September 12, 2015. Upon arrival students were greeted and swiped in. All students were given a raffle ticket for the drawing at the end. All students attending the movie were invited to get a snack and drink from the concession stand. All refreshments were free. The drink choices included water, Pepsi and other sodas. The snack choices included Sun Chips, Doritos, Pretzels, Potato Chips, Fritos, Cheetos and several other chips. When one entered the theater, a Scooby-Doo cartoon was playing. The sound was low, but could be heard easily, by those paying attention. The lights were still on fully. After the cartoon was over, typical movie theater previews came on. The lights dimmed a little bit, as the crowd entered the theater. Some previews highlighted new movies coming to theaters and other highlighted new television series premiering soon. The sound was turned up to typical movie theater level, a roar so loud it demands undivided attention. By the end of the previews the rustling of guests entering the theater had dulled, and it was clear it was near time for the movie to start. After the different previews finished running, the lights were dimmed to the point where they were nearly off. The person in the sound booth skillfully took out the preview tape and put in the movie for the night. San Andreas was an incredible action packed movie. It was focused on the idea of the San Andreas Fault Line opening, and the damage it would cause. I found this particularly interesting after attending the Climate control panel and hearing that if global warming increases, the world will be more prone to natural disaster. The movie also had a focus on one family and how they survived the disaster.

After the movie ended and the credits were nearly over, the film was stopped. It was time for the raffle. Three participants in the movie night won tickets to the movie theater. This event was incredible and I enjoyed every minute of it. I am looking forward to the next movie night! Is anyone else?

On Friday, August 28, 2015, the Stockton Entertainment Team offered a casino night event from 9:00 to 11:00. Freshmen could use this event as an opportunity to interact with other students and begin to make Stockton feel like their home. After swiping in and receiving a friendly welcome, students were given a package of $50,000 in play money. There were approximately a dozen casino games throughout the large I-Wing Gym. All games were open for students to play and had supportive SET staff to teach newcomers the game as well as the run the game. Students exchanged their play money for chips to use on the tables and played the games. After playing any games she was interested in, they were encouraged to trade in her chips for raffle tickets. Using the raffle tickets students could select to be entered into raffle to win a huge variety of prizes. Approximately twenty prizes were available, ranging from cleaning supplies to chairs to Beats headphones to a television. The raffles began around 9:30 and five winners were drawn every fifteen minutes. The smallest prizes were raffled off first as the system slowly worked to larger prizes and ending with the largest prizes. Students were very eager to participate and try their luck in the raffles. Nearly one hundred students stayed until the end of the event. Free food and drinks were also available and plentiful throughout the night. Students could enjoy the buffet style serving of snacks including bags of chips, soft cookies, water, iced tea, and lemonade. Several tables off to the side were also available for students who wished to take a break to eat and visit with new friends. If all of this was not enough excitement for the new students, there were also two large movie screens set up displaying popular music videos to match the music being played be the disc jockey. The music could be heard easily from all areas of the room and played continually throughout the night, taking only short breaks for instructions to SET staff and raffle ticket numbers to be announced. This set up also included a spectacular light display around the room. I had a wonderful night and gained skills such as how to play blackjack. I also meet some students that are in my classes, which greatly eased my anxieties about my first day. I would highly recommend this event to any new student for the great learning opportunities offered as well as for the social opportunities provided.

The Unified Black Student Society and the Stockton Entertainment Team hosted an incredible event on Saturday, August 29, 2015, entitled the Osprey Kick-Off. The activities were offered from 3:00 to 6:00 PM. These activities included a make a teddy bear stand, a Tiki Bar, a sign making stand, a caricaturist, a Dippin’ Dots stand, stands for both sponsoring clubs, a disc jockey, free giveaways and volleyball. With so many fun events to chose from, students were entertained for all three hours.

At the make a teddy bear stand, participants waited in a long line to create their newest best friend. There were four choices available including a white bear, a black bear, a light brown bear, and a dark brown bear. Participates stuffed the bear themselves and completed the activity by sewing the belly button of the bear closed. The first students to participate also received a shirt for their bears.

At the Tiki Bar, virgin pinta coladas, strawberry daiquiris, and fruit juice slushes were served. Students could select any of the half dozen flavors or try them all! Nearby was the Dippin’ Dots stand. This stand was popular, but closed only about a half an hour into the festivities. Many students were disappointed, as they had high hopes of enjoying everything that was advertised.

The sign-making stand was yet another success. Students loved selecting a template and message and having the staff create a one-of-a-kind sign for them. The products took over a hour to be completed and made; however, one could do other activities as she waited.

The last craft activity of the day was the caricaturist. He was a skilled artist and could recreate anyone. Not one student was unhappy with his drawing. The line was long, with some students waiting over an hour to receive attention. These portraits are the perfect addition to a residence hall room!

The two clubs sponsoring the events both offered stands. These stands offered giveaways, such as foam fingers, hand sanitizing spray, T-shirts and pens. They also had information about the clubs and information on how to join their club or participate in activities their club offers.

The disc jockey was an invaluable addition to the event. She provided music through the entire event, even as the end approached. Students enjoyed dancing to music such as the Wobble and Watch Me. By five thirty, the students still at the event flocked to this area. It was clearly the most popular activity open by this time.

Students could also enjoy the typical activities on the quad, including frisbee and volleyball. Many students were content to simply visit with others and make friends.

The festivities were well planed and organized. They encouraged all students to interact and feel at home as new Ospreys!

One of the most interesting events during Welcome Week was not mandatory and was offered two times. This was the nature walk around Lake Fred. It was offered at 9:30 AM and 1:30 PM on Monday, August 31, 2015. The tour lasted one hour and met outside of the gazebo next to the Arts and Sciences Building. The tour was led by Susan Allen, who is a graduate student here at Stockton. During this walk, students were given booklets about the different wildlife and plants that they could see around Lake Fred. When something that was in the book was spotted, the guide showed us the real thing and told us the page in the book to get more information about it. This made the tour not only fun, but also informational. Students were given time along the way to take pictures and observe the plants around the lake. We walked as a group and were encouraged to get to know one another along the way. Several students from the Honors Program were present and were about to discuss their adjustment to the campus as well as the freshman read.

One of the most fascinating thing that was covered on this tour was the information about the osprey, our school logo. We also learned about other birds that are commonly mistaken for the osprey. Another fact explained on the tour was that once ospreys were introduced to Lake Fred, the lake was too small to support a family of ospreys because the lake simply did not have enough fish for them. Although no osprey families live here at Stockton, many live nearby and come to visit and fish for short periods of time. We saw images of the osprey in our booklets and heard a boy in our group discuss his sighting of an osprey.

We saw the Oasis, which is a beach like area near the Lakeside Lodge. We traveled on both the light and dark paths and crossed several bridges. Our tour group also traveled on a small trail connecting the light and dark paths together. Ambiguous Students taking advantage of this activity became more familiar with the layout of the campus, especially how to reach the other side of the lake. This information will be handy to know when one must park her car in North Lot. Personally, I felt a lot more comfortable walking around the lake after the tour.