On Friday, April 17, Stockton’s Entertainment Team (SET) hosted the fifth annual “Woodstockton”, an event where a chosen band or performer, depending on who gets the most student votes, visits Stockton and performs a student concert in Big Blue Gymnasium. This year, Panic! At the Disco was chosen over many other famous performers, such as 21 Pilots and Jesse McCartney, to perform. Being I had never been to a concert before, I was really glad that a band I particularly like was chosen for my first concert. Two of my friends from back home are also huge fans of the band, so they came and visited Stockton for a night and saw the concert with me.
Panic! At the Disco were opened for by two bands. First, the student band, My Life in Film, winners of Battle of the Band a few weeks ago, performed a few songs, some of their own and some covers of well-known songs. Overall, they were clearly very talented and got the audience excited for the performance to come. The second opener, a guitarist and singer named Clark Kelly, performed a few songs by himself and engaged himself with the audience by speaking in between songs and getting the crowd even more excited. Finally, after the last set change, Panic! At the Disco made their appearance and began playing immediately, during which the audience all began singing along and dancing. Luckily, my friends and I decided to stay in the standing area so we could have just as much of a good time.
Panic! performed many of their well-known songs, as well as some I was less familiar with but others knew by heart. They also covered the song, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which is a song that almost everyone seems to know. Overall, we spent the whole time dancing and enjoying the concert as a whole. The performers of Panic! most definitely really enjoy what they do, as one could tell watching them perform live. Considering it was my first concert, I can surely say it was great experience and I would love to go to another concert in the near future.

Earlier tonight, my RA Julie Eller hosted our final program. During it, we were each given a small flower pot, a plethora of paints, and paintbrushes; we were then given the freedom to paint them as we wished, followed by filling them with soil and a plant of our choice. The point of the program was to have it as a final program as a floor for the semester and to reflect on our favorite times during our freshman year. Many people shared stories from throughout the year and laughed at each other’s favorite memories.
My first year at Stockton has been full of amazing memories that I will always remember and take time to reflect on when I am older. I have met some of the most amazing people in classes and the honors residence hall that I am also proud to call my honors family. We have all laughed, cried, had fun together, studied for exams, gone out for birthday dinners, and have done many more fun things. Everyone in my residence hall has provided me with reassurance in my already existing notion that there is good in everyone as long as you look for it; in fact, they proved this to be true and more.
Next semester, I will be an honors resident assistant, along with current honors RA’s Julie and Anthony. I am thrilled, honored, and humbled to be joining the staff, especially in the honors community. I have enjoyed every moment I have been in the honors program so far, and cannot wait to mentor a floor of incoming honors girls and show them what family has meant to me during my time at Stockton. I am truly grateful for Julie and Anthony and the leadership and caring they have shown their residents through their friendly attitudes and fun programming throughout this year. I can only hope to follow their footsteps and provide my residents with such guidance.

On April 15, I attended the Somers Point Jazz Society Education Concert hosted in the Stockton Performing Arts Center. Many students from different elementary schools who were young musicians attended, as well as other Stockton students and some community members. Tickets were free and seating was very informal, which made for convenience in entering the performance. The jazz group consisted of a piano player, bass, drums, guitar, trumpet, and saxophone, some of the musicians being adjunct members of Stockton’s faculty. There were plenty of different sounds from the instruments that made for a well-balanced concert.
Studying for a music minor at Stockton and previously being a member of my high school’s jazz band, I appreciated the way the group went about their performance. The leader of the group, the saxophonist, talked in between pieces and explained the style of the jazz music they were about to perform, as well as giving background information about the composers of each. He also arranged their performance in such a way that the music was chronological in style as the jazz era progressed from the early 1900s on. My favorite piece that they played, St. Thomas, composed by Sonny Rollins, was a piece that my jazz band had once performed, therefore it is also close to my heart.
Although I am doing classical music studies here at Stockton, jazz performance will always be something I enjoy very much. I am always surprised by musicians’ ability to improvise in jazz music, as this concert was very much based by playing melodies in synch, followed by improvised solos from each of the musicians. Improvisation is especially hard because one must keep to the key signature of the piece, as well as follow the main melody, with a personal twist. Personally, I have much difficulty with this as a musician, and luckily classical music does not include this difficult task too often. I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing this in concert and learned about a lot of jazz composers, some of which I had not yet heard of.

On Friday, March 27, my friends and I attended the weekly Billiards Club meeting, which we are frequent members of. While I am no billiards expert, I definitely have improved my game since coming to Stockton. My other friends in the club have a bit more experience than I do, and are actually pretty good. This week, all of the members were put into brackets in a singles tournament, where we played a race to three, and the winner of each would move on to the next round. I happened to be randomly chosen to play first, against one of my best friends, Ryan, who is probably the best pool player of my friends. While I put up the best fight I could, Ryan ended up winning, thus knocking me out of the tournament. Over all, he ended up winning the entire tournament of that week, defeating even the president of the club, who is also very talented.
Billiards club, while small, has been a fun and rewarding club I am a part of at Stockton. I have made new friends from joining, who have been a part of the club since they were freshmen as well. I also have gotten a lot better at billiards, since the last I had played since coming to Stockton was probably about five years ago! My friends and I look forward to Fridays because of pool club, but we do not let that stop us from playing during the rest of the week. At least once a day, everyday, whether it is during a lunch break or when we need a break from studying, my friends and I will head over to the Campus Center and play pool, sometimes for one game, or other times for ten games, depending on what we play. Billiards has proved to be a relaxing way to get our minds off studying or class when we can afford to, and I am extremely glad that it is offered in the Campus Center Game Room.

On Precepting Day, March 24, Resident Assistants from the Freshman Housing Staff hosted Crafts for a Cause in the TRLC, where people were welcomed to come and go as they pleased to make cards, coloring books, and teddy bears for sick children. In addition, there were jars collecting donations for Stockton’s upcoming Relay for Life event, each with a building’s letter on them as incentive to collect the most change for our buildings. A few of my friends and I went to the event at 2:00, and as it was scheduled to run until 4:00, we ended up spending the whole two hours there, each stitching a teddy bear. I had never sown or done any sort of project like this, so learning to stitch was kind of difficult at first. However, after cutting the fabric with tiny owls that I chose, and starting the first stitch, I eventually got the hang of it to a beginner’s degree. After two hours, the table full of people I was sitting with each had made one (or in some cases, more than one) teddy bear to donate. Meanwhile, others made coloring books and warming cards to donate as well.
I had a great time at this event because while we were learning how to do something new, we were also helping others who would not have received these bears, books, and cards from us without the program. Unfortunately, it often goes unnoticed that there are so many children that are lacking any sort of warm wishes or toys due to being sick or very poor. Even after making a small bear, I hope that I can impact a child in even the slightest way by them receiving the bear. At the end of the program, 18 bears, 75 cards, and 86 coloring books were made for children in Atlantic Care hospital and the Stanley Home Homework Completion program. In addition, my building, D, happened to raise the most amount of money for Relay for Life! I thoroughly enjoyed going to this program and had a great time with my friends and learning to make a teddy bear.

On February 27, Stockton’s men’s basketball team fought in Big Blue for the NJAC Championship title against William Paterson University. Being from North Jersey, seeing the good amount of fans from William Paterson made me appreciate their dedication in driving all that way to Galloway. However, the student side of the gym overflowed with Ospreys, as we were excited and ready for the “Black out” game. My friends and I even made sure to be of the first fifty to enter the game, and got free shirts and admission. Some were even prepared with streamers that were thrown across the stands each time a three-point shot was scored. Being that Stockton was the first seed in the tournament and William Paterson was second, we knew the game was going to be intense.
The score of the game was overall throughout, as each team gained the lead back and forth. We made sure to hold up our hands for luck as our team made foul shots, and, of course in a matter of good sportsmanship, were loud while William Paterson attempted shots. In the end of the game, the Ospreys pulled through by gaining a lead, and won 65-61, close enough to make it the intense game it was expected to be. At the final buzzer, almost every Osprey ran onto the court and celebrated together. While I only made it halfway onto the court because of the amount of fans, I thought it was awesome to see the spirit we all had as we came together.
Although I had a great time at the game and love playing basketball for fun myself, my only regret is that I did not go to more basketball games during the season. Now that I know how much fun it is to bring friends to these games, I will definitely be attending more sports events at Stockton in the future.

Earlier this semester, my friend Ryan and I volunteered at the Red Cross Blood Drive in Big Blue. The event ran for two days, both of which had many volunteers that consisted of students, faculty, and community members. While I wish I could have donated, but could not at the particular time, being even a small part of the event was a good overall experience.
As volunteers, we first stayed at the table where donors were given snacks and drinks and made sure they were able to talk normally without feeling dizzy or weak. At one point, someone did almost faint, but they were immediately assisted by a Red Cross worker. I wished that we were more equipped with knowledge as to how to help in situations by these, but we did our best in our task to bring the donors snacks. Also, later we sat at the front table to sign people in as well as give them paperwork with things to be aware of before donating. Interestingly enough, I learned about many more countries than I had imagined that, if one had visited them recently, prohibited certain individuals from donating at all.
Being that people young and old are in need of blood donations every day, I feel it is a great opportunity for blood drives to be held at college campuses, being that so many people are there each day. I feel that for all who are able and willing, it is a great chance to take advantage and be able to help one or more people, depending on how it is being used. Next time there is a blood drive, given that I am able to, I definitely plan on donating blood for the benefit of someone who will need it more than I do.

On February 26, the Career Center held a Career Fair in the Campus Center Event Room for students to meet and interact with representatives of many businesses and places of work. I was suggested to go by my Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism Management professor to attend, regardless of our majors, to see some options we had in the area for jobs or internships in the future. Business professional attire was strongly encouraged due to the possibility of meeting a future employer. Upon entering the fair we were given a catalogue containing the table numbers of each business, along with a description of each, along with the degrees the employers looked for in students. Being undeclared and unsure of what I wanted to do, this kind of limited my opportunities, but I decided to look at each table regardless.
The businesses, depending on the type and/or place of work, offered opportunities for temporary/part-time jobs, full-time jobs for after graduation, and summer internships. I thought that the range of options was very beneficial for students of any year, especially because I am a freshman. However, I think that more freshmen, regardless of their major, should start looking into potential career opportunities. The career fair was a great way to do so, because I talked to many professionals from different fields who gave me ideas as to what I would like to do in my career once I graduate.
I would strongly suggest every student visits the career fairs whenever they are offered by the career center here at Stockton. It was a great chance to see what kinds of employers are in the area and looking for Stockton graduates to represent them. I will definitely be attending the career fair next year if it is hosted again.

A few weekends ago, my friends and I decided to watch Big Hero Six, a Disney-Pixar movie that was playing in the Campus Center Theatre. I had seen the movie when it was first released, but enjoyed it so much as to see it again. Also, who wouldn’t want to see a movie on a Saturday night with their friends?
The animated movie is about a young genius named Hiro Hamada, an aspiring robot fighter (and quite the hustler) who has no intentions for using his inventiveness for college, that is, until his older brother, Tadashi, convinces him to apply. Hiro applies through a showcase held by the school, where the person who develops the most innovative technology is guaranteed acceptance from the Dean of the school. Hiro develops “microbots,” a uncountable amount of mini robots that, upon wearing a neurotransmitter headband, will shape themselves into anything the mind can create and even build tangible objects through this shape-shifting. Hiro showcases his invention and amazes the entire audience, thus granting his acceptance into the college and even being offered millions of dollars for his inventions by another scientist, which Hiro respectfully declines.
However, things take a turn for the worse as a tragedy occurs, shaping the future for these microbots to be of destruction due to the evil intentions of a certain individual. Hiro must band together with his friends, as well as Baymax, a healthcare robot whom Tadashi had developed in school, to stop the antagonist and secure the neurotransmitter headband. The movie, overall, has the tragedy and emotional appeal of any great Disney movie, but also provides comedy for all ages especially through the character of Baymax. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone, as I’ve seen it three times total, and would definitely see it again if given the opportunity.

Over the course of the fall semester, once a week I went to my Chamber Orchestra class in Alton Auditorium, which included a total of seven people. With each musician on a different instrument, our director knew it would be difficult to find repertoire that would best suit the rare mixture of sounds. He settled on a Haydn symphony to be our main focus for the semester, putting me on the violin part even though I play flute, and improvising with other parts as he needed. We continued through the semester working intensely on this piece, as well as several chorales for the strings and winds, switching back and forth between the groups during class.
On December 3, as the semester came to an end, Dr. Di Santo invited the Bay-Atlantic Symphony, an adult group of profound musicians in the Atlantic county area, to perform the Haydn symphony with us, as well as a few of their own selections. Having their addition of experience and sound to our group only made the symphony all the more powerful and reverberating by the end. Hearing our performance as we played was an amazing experience all in its own, because it creates a sense of accomplishment and surprises one of what they are capable of. This is one of the aspects I have always enjoyed about music, and why I was so interested in continuing music in college.
A week later, on December 10, the last day of the semester, our ensemble performed again, this time on our own. We performed the symphony as well as our string and wind chorales. Although we had a smaller crowd due to it being the end of the semester, my parents were able to attend before bringing me home, and it was as if I were performing as I did in high school again. I fully appreciated the opportunity to work as hard as I could during the semester on making music and being able to display what we have accomplished. No matter the size of the crowd, performing on any level has always been a passion of mine, as well as simply playing during rehearsal. I am currently enrolled for this course again during this current semester, so I am excited to see what we will perform at our next concert!