One of the annual events at Stockton University is the Get Involved Fair which was on the 19th and 20th of September this year. The fair is located in the main campus building with tables set up, all the way from B –wing continuing through most of the main campus building. The purpose of the Get Involved Fair is to not only encourage the new freshman and transfers, but also previous year students at Stockton University to join and get involved in all that Stockton University has to offer. There are various things to get involved in such as sororities and fraternities, all different types of clubs, and even volunteer activities. Essentially, it is said that there is something for everyone; you just have to find that something at this fair. The convenience of the Get Involved Fair is that you have access to meeting up with almost every organization in Stockton just to get their perspective and mission of the organization before making the decision of joining the organization and they are all located in one convenient location, the main campus center. Since it is in the convenient location, the main campus center, the Get Involved Fair is not only hard to miss due to the buzzing energy, but it is also hard to avoid if you are in the main campus center, since, wherever you go in that building the constant sound of the fair is heard. Joining multiple organizations shows your commitment to not only the education that everyone has can gain at Stockton University but also the overall experience of college. The overall experience of college include multiple things such as making friends, getting involved, gaining an education, and this list can continue endlessly, but the point is that college is more than just about getting an education. Aside from the education that you will be getting in the classrooms, the Get Involved fair is the best place to begin to experience the overall college experience, where you can choose to get involved in what the college has to offer. At the same time as getting involved and signing up for these organizations, you are gaining friends that have the same interests as you or who share the same life goals as you for example, you might befriend someone that is as passionate as you about going to dental school, who you first meet at the Pre-Health club. Also, not only are you gaining friends and getting involved, but you are also building your resume up for potential employers and graduate schools with combinations of clubs, sports, sororities, fraternities, and volunteer hours. Many of the people that are sitting at the tables trying to recruit people are incredible in a way that these people are great at putting the mission of the club out to the people walking by in the hallways and convincing people to join the club that people actually feel bad not joining the club. Also, free items are usually at every table drawing people into the table, where they would listen or read what the club is about. Overall, the Get Involved Fair is one of the best ways to kick-start the year that leads to a more positive college experience and for future goals.

Walking into the campus center Coffee House on Monday, October 9th, seemed like such a routine occurrence. However, this night there was a tie dying event at 8 o’clock and because my friend is a tie dying fanatic she wanted to go. But I had never done anything like this, and I had no idea what to expect. I left my last lecture in F Building at 7:45 and went straight to the Coffee House to secure us a table. When I first arrived, there were a decent amount of people sitting and waiting. However, around 7:55 we started lining up, and the line was past Dunkin Donuts within minutes. As time went on it seemed like the line continued to grow and before I knew it the line had stretched out past the glass doors and into the main hallway of the Campus Center.

I was not the only one who was shocked at the turnout. The staff working the event were not set up or prepared for this many people at all, and at one point during the event someone had to come and bring them the backup stock of shirts. We stood in line until about ten after 8 and then finally we saw the workers start setting up the tables with tarps and the different colors of dye, and then finally the line started moving.

We got up to the table and one of the workers swiped our cards, and then we moved over to a different table and told them what size shirt we were. After picking out what size we wanted, the worker dipped the shirt in a bucket filled with some kind of liquid. I still don’t know what it was, but one of the people in front of me said it was to help the shirt hold the color better. We picked up a paper with instructions on how to make different designs, rubber bands, and gloves along the way, and then finally we were ready to start. The tables were not very big, which made it difficult to lay your shirt out and rubber band it, but we had to make it work. Although I had never tie dyed before, I didn’t want to use the paper, so I just made up my own design.

Coming in I had an idea in my head about what colors I wanted to use, but of course when I actually got to the table, I saw someone else’s shirt and immediately fell in love with their color scheme. I put my shirt down on the table and began working. I probably should have looked at the paper because I had no idea what I was doing, and I just picked up the dye colors I wanted and sprayed all over the shirt with no rhymer reason.

When you finished your shirt, the staff gave you a ziplock baggie to put it in so the excess dye wouldn’t get all over your hands, which it was anyway. I didn’t know you had to let it sit a whole day before taking it out and washing it, and I was pretty upset about it because naturally I wanted to see my shirt at that very moment. However, the next day when I finally got to cut the rubber bands off and see what it looked like I wasn’t so sure I actually liked what I had done. But I washed it and dried it anyway, and when it finally came out of the dryer I fell in love with it, and immediately went back to my room to try it on, but ended up wearing it for the rest of the day.  

There have been many moments already where I find myself overjoyed that I decided to join the honors program at Stockton. The freshman convocation was one of those moments. After reading Trust me I’m Lying I came away with a view of the author Ryan Holiday as an intelligent media manipulator but also an arrogant man. After hearing him speak however my opinion has completely reversed. What I perceived as an arrogant tone was actually a frustrated one. While he had manipulated the media into spreading free news for his clients he does regret how he contributed to the flawed media system. Overall the convocation was revealed a lot about Holiday and Trust Me I’m Lying that wasn’t in the book.

Holiday started off the convocation discussing how he got to where he was when he wrote Trust me I’m Lying. He described the people he got to work with in pleasant ways but he wasn’t proud of everything he had done. He also talked extensively about how much he wanted to be an author. This gives good context to Trust Me I’m Lying that we didn’t have before reading his book. The more he talked the more is frustration with the media came through.

His frustrations were clearly voiced when he talked about Help A Reporter Out, a service that allows reporters to search for ‘experts’ to be sources in theirs stories in exchange for free publicity. Shortly before the release of his book Holiday used the service multiple times to lie his way into stories. However instead of stopping their reporters from using the stories, multiple major newspapers simply put an amendment of the story towards the end of the article. This was the exact opposite of what Holiday expected to happen. He had also not expected the media to attack his books either. Hearing him speak about the media’s reactions both allowed him to reach the freshman class and tell us his view in a way we could not have gotten otherwise. He truly didn’t take pride in what he did to the media through the release of his book or his HARO experiments. Holiday was trying to help expose a problem so the media could fix it not to criticize or make fun of the media. He also talked for a short portion about the prevalence of fake news and how shadier characters and even governments are using strategies like his to promote hateful ideologies. Holiday didn’t seem arrogant or mighty when it came to manipulation instead disgusted that he contributed to the harmful system of blogs.

The most reveling part of the convocation was the question and answer portion. My question was the final question he answered. What did he think was the ratio of people who used his book for bad compared to good and did people using it for bad concern him? He answered repeating the sentiment something he had said earlier in the convocation as well. Although the book was market as a tell all from an uncaring media manipulator, this was far from the truth. He answered my question saying he didn’t feel good knowing that people could use his book in the wrong way. It was clear he thought that the message of the book was more important than the few who would use the book maliciously.

Ryan Holiday’s message came across loud and clear to thanks to the freshman convocation. He was frustrated with the media’s practices and wanted to do something about it. His book was a product of frustration but also provided him an exit from the media industry he was disillusioned by. Holiday seemed actually content discussing his farm, his animals, and writing novels. Holiday has found a new life away from manipulation and if Holiday can escape this cycle of manipulation then maybe we all can.

When I first walked out of my Argument and Persuasion class at 12:20 on September 19, I had no idea what was going on because there were so many people everywhere, and then it hit me that the Get Involved Fair was today and I was standing right in the middle of it. There were over 100 clubs with tables set up throughout the hallways, and let me just say it was one of my most overwhelming experiences here. I never imagined that enough people would be interested in these ideas to even form a club. But the depressing part was I wasn’t seeing anything I would be interested in joining, and I began to feel very discouraged. I saw other people going to every table they saw and signing up for everything, but I didn’t want to waste my time with things that didn’t interest me. I had some possibilities in my mind about clubs I had heard of and wanted to join, but I didn’t see any of them.

Just then I saw a dog running around on a blanket and my love for animals persuaded me to go see what the table was. It was a volunteer organization at a local animal shelter. This was right up my alley, and the more the women at the table talked about the responsibilities I would have and the impact I would have on these animals, the more interested I became. I signed my name on the sheet and was a little more positive now that I found something that I liked.

As I got further into the different stands, I finally came across one of the clubs I was looking for: the photography club. There were a few people talking to the students in charge of the stand, so I waited until they were done and then walked up and filled out the iPad with my school login and pushed the “join” button. And just like that I had officially joined my first club.

Honestly, I would have been happy joining only one club, but as I was walking away from the table I saw the student ambassador table. This caught my attention because I remember wanting to become one when I went on my campus tours during my senior year of high school. I went over and the two students were so inviting and energetic. They told me the whole process you have to go through in order to become an ambassador, and I am willing to do it all. I wrote my name on the paper and am going to the interest meeting.

At this point, I thought I had seen everything and was making my way out of the building when I saw the Criminal Justice Society board. Being a criminal justice major, I wanted to see what their club was about and see if I would be interested. After talking to the students, I decided it would help me determine what I want to do with my future at Stockton and beyond. I signed up and got a meeting time for that as well. After all was said and done, I signed up to join three different clubs and one volunteer activity and can’t wait for the meetings to begin.