On November 18, my RA, Julie Eller, planned a floor program called “Barbie Bash,” where my floor as well as friends from other floors and buildings were invited to D200 to make our own “Barbie Dolls” that look however we perceive ourselves. So, we all crowded into our common room, drew mini versions of ourselves, cut them out, and colored whatever outfits, hair, or facial expressions we wanted on them. I ended up drawing the outfit I planned on wearing the next day on my Barbie!
The purpose of this program was to promote a movement of “Realistic Barbies” and to encourage girls to embrace their own beauty, rather than being discouraged by Barbie’s unrealistic proportions. Julie showed us articles and videos during our program that showed a real young woman’s body proportions compared to that of Barbie, which were way too small to actually survive as a human. In reality, if Barbie and her proportions were real, she would not be able to hold her head up right, lift heavy objects, or walk on two legs. Therefore, this movement is spreading across the nation, and has even resulted in the creation of the “Lammily doll,” which has the average proportions of a 19-year-old girl. The creator of these dolls has a goal of showing girls of this age and even younger that there is nothing wrong with not being of Barbie’s size, because it is simply impossible.
This program spoke to every single one of us, as we are all of similar ages on my floor, new college students surrounded by new people and perceptions of ourselves, and everyone, at some point, has had self-doubt about their own appearance. By creating our own doll and taking a picture with it afterwards, it opened my eyes to how special it is for everyone to be unique and beautiful in our own way. Barbie Bash was one of my favorite floor programs, and after this program Julie posted Selfies of each of us without makeup on and left paper underneath each one. Everyone left comments about each other, and reading the ones under my picture were so thoughtful and made me really feel great about myself. I look forward to the programs we have on our floor next semester and am thankful that Julie has such great ideas that bring people together!

On the rainy morning of November 1, I, along with a good amount of other Honors students, went on the Freshman Honors Trip to Philadelphia to visit the Mummer’s Museum and Italian Market. This trip was especially enticing to me because I had never been to Philadelphia before, since I live next to New York City. Being able to visit a new renowned city seemed like an opportunity I could not refuse.
We arrived at the museum and were guided on a tour by a man whose family has always been very involved in Mummer’s parades that go on typically in Philadelphia and New York. Everything we learned was new information for me, for I had never even heard of Mummers before. In simple terms, people who participate in Mummers Parades dress up in extravagantly themed costumes and perform through the streets of these cities. In the end of the tour, we all dressed in clothing items of Mummers and took a group picture-it was very interesting to see the kinds of clothes considered “typical” to them! Also, after we tried on the costumes, Dr. Rosner had us put into groups to create a “Mummers Dance” with Halloween themes. My group was assigned “ghosts,” so we made a dance to the Ghost Busters theme song. Although it was not as top-notch as actual Mummers performances, it was very entertaining to see everyone’s dances.
After the museum, we were allowed to break off into groups and explore the Italian market of Philadelphia, which included tightly packed streets filled with vendors and restaurants. My friends and I chose to eat and a small restaurant which we all agreed had the best burgers we had ever eaten. We also went to an Italian candy shop, which had everything sweet one could imagine, all homemade. A couple of us, including myself, got gelato despite the cold, rainy weather outside, but it was well worth it. We then headed back to the bus to go back to Stockton.
The Freshman Trip, despite the weather, was a good experience, especially being my first time in Philadelphia. I throughly enjoyed spending this time with my Honors friends, and I learned a lot about Mummers and the specific area of Philadelphia. I definitely look forward to visiting Philadelphia again!

On Tuesday, September 23, I, along with a couple of my friends, participated in Stockton’s Glow Walk, which involved running, jogging or walking Stockton’s track, lighted only by glow sticks and motivated by loud music. The proceeds, a $5 donation from each participant, would go to various charities and organizations the few fraternities and sororities running the event found suitable. At first glance, my friends and I were excited to receive a glow stick for each lap, which inspired us to want to run as much as we could and end up lit head to toe. However, after eight laps of continuous running (or, in my case, simply attempting to keep up with my cross-country runner of a friend), we found our lack of distance training to be an issue, so we knew it was time to walk it out.

Overall, although it was not a long event, the glow walk was simply a last-minute opportunity my friends and I decided to take. I had known the event was coming up and was interested in participating. My friend, Jen, asked me if I wanted to go with her, and little did I know that the event was that very night. I am glad I accepted and was able to end up donating to a good cause and having a good time on what would have been a typical Tuesday night of endless studying. Sometimes, unexpected plans are the most memorable plans, being that none of us knew what exactly to expect, and I certainly did not know that I would end up running 2 miles that night!

On September 6, I joined hundreds of students as well as faculty and staff members in Stockton’s 11th Annual Day of Service, where we were given the option to participate in any available volunteer activity and benefit the lives of others. During the Day of Service I participated in Books Without Borders, which entailed unboxing hundreds of used books, categorizing them, and repacking them in order for them to be shipped around the world for the use of those who are in need of them. The project did take more thinking than physical labor, due to the fact that we needed to collectively determine what subject each book fell under, as they ranged from science and business to family and marriage. The number of boxes at first was also a bit overwhelming as they were unloaded from multiple cars and placed all along the road we worked on. Also, as we continued to pack them up, it seemed at some points as if books continued to appear on their own. Some books even ended up in boxes that one would never expect them to be, until someone would point them out and move them to a different box. However, eventually the stacks did begin to decrease, and we were able to see the white tables’ surfaces once more.
Books Without Borders was a mutually beneficial event for those packing the books and those receiving. I enjoyed seeing what kind of books were going to those in need, and knowing that they would be utilized in the best means possible, rather than remaining in their original boxes to collect dust. I also appreciate reading and other forms of literature; therefore I enjoyed being able to help others through it. Since Books Without Borders is also a club, after this experience I would definitely consider joining it and finding out other ways I can help those in need.

On Saturday, September 27, I, accompanied by a couple of my friends, decided to volunteer at the Atlantic County Animal Shelter located in Pleasantville, New Jersey. This was a considerably new experience for me, since I had never even heard of Pleasantville, and I had never volunteered at an animal shelter before. However, as a lover of animals and of new experiences, I decided that this would be an opportunity I could not refuse. So, bright and early on that Saturday morning, my friends and I piled into our cars, stopped for a necessary (and, of course, nutritious) Wawa breakfast sandwich, and headed for the shelter.
Upon arriving, we signed in for the day and decided where we wanted to work. Our choices were helping in the cat infirmary, cleaning pens in the cat adoption room, or doing maintenance work around the shelter. I decided to clean the pens in the cat adoption room, which required sanitizing them. Once that was done, we were able to give the cats and kittens toys made by Stockton students and the toys the shelter had, as well as take them out of their cages to hold them. I befriended an adorable kitten named Victoria. I contemplated sneaking her into my residence hall numerous times, as did other students I was with. Although that was not possible, I thoroughly enjoyed my opportunity to see what the shelter was about, as the staff seemed to truly care about their animals and facility. I also enjoyed being able to assist the staff members and the animals in cleaning up and providing the animals with new toys and clean places to rest. I have been told that Stockton offers this volunteer opportunity at least once a semester, and I will definitely volunteer any day at this shelter in the future.