Category Archives: First Year Experience

Blog Post Thirteen – Movie Nights at the Campus Center

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After a long, stressful week of classes and work, all I want to do on the weekends is relax. I am sure other students, like me, like enjoy the free time before the craziness begins again, which is where the movie nights at the Campus Center at the Richard Stockton College come in. Every week I look forward to seeing what movie they will be playing! I love the great options too; you can attend the evening movie either Thursday night or Saturday night. Yet, the best part is all the movies that are featured are free! Students even have the option of participating in the Osprey Movie Rewards Program!

The movies are held in the lobby of the Campus Center in the new event room. I always feel like I am in a real movie theater because of the high-definition screen and audio system, as well as the comfy seats! This semester I have seen some great films, such as Paranormal Activity 3, Twilight Breaking Dawn, and Sherlock Holmes 2. In the past, my friends and I have enjoyed watching Friends with Benefits and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. My other favorite thing about movie nights is that Stockton College usually has movies available for students to watch before they are even out on DVD. Before I attended college, I was such a big movie fan, so when I found out about the Campus Center movie nights, I could not have been happier!

(I always check out the site to see what is playing that week, you can check it out to at: http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/page.cfm?siteID=108&pageID=41)

Blog Post Twelve – Service Learning Event The Celebration of Creativity

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As I have discussed in my previous blogs, I am completing Service Learning for two of my courses, the Honors Program and Public Health Marketing. I decided to work with the Jersey Shore Children’s Museum and complete marketing work for them. Through the Service Learning Office, I was put in touch with the marketing company that works with the museum, Ugly Baby Marketing, and the two women that run the business, Sherri Brentari and Karen Komo. By working for the museum and Ugly Baby Marketing, I was also introduced to another student, Stephanie Mak, who has been my marketing partner throughout the semester. We all agreed the Jersey Shore Children’s Museum was a great place for families to go and we want everyone to have the same perspective we have.

In order to complete this vision, we decided to create an event that involved the communities around the museum. The event was on April 21st and was called the Celebration of Creativity, the first event ever dedicated to the museum. I never understood how much work went into planning and organizing an event. I was in contact with numerous Stockton Staff and Professors, the coordinator of the Shore Mall, Daycare Facilities, Learning Centers, and Supermarkets for food donations. The Celebration of Creativity involved two contests and art work from Stockton, near by High Schools, and Daycare/Learning Center Facilities. The event went really well for the first time and I hope that I can work with the museum for my Service Learning Project for the following year so that I can run this event again! (I have attached the flyer underneath).

Celebration of Creativity Flyer

Blog Post Eleven – Celebration of Service

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After participating in the Day of Scholarship, I wanted to share my Service Learning project with even more people and decided to attend the Celebration of Service on April 10th. The event was from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. that Tuesday located in the F-Wing Atrium, by the library. There were multiple clubs, organizations, and event information available throughout the day. I was really excited to participate in this event because I wanted to showcase my work once again and I even got my own table to present my service project! Also from attending the event, I obtained information from Student Development to help me promote my event, the Celebration of Creativity, as well as was introduced to a Marketing professor that helped me gain insightful information about the field I am currently working in.

However, compared to the Day of Scholarship, I wanted to discuss and promote the event itself, on April 21st, rather than discuss my experience with the project. The location was to everyone’s benefit because students, faculty, and staff travel through that area often throughout the day. Presenters, like me, were encouraged to bring flyers, pictures, and any other means of promotional or educational material. For example, I used the same tri-fold from the Day of Scholarship, but brought more flyers, magazines, and stood by my poster to encourage participation. Even though this was the 1st Annual Celebration of Service and I think it was a great success and hope that even more individuals and groups will be present next year!

Blog Post Ten – Day of Scholarship

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The Day of Scholarship, on March 22nd, was a wonderful event where individual students or a group of students were promoted to present any type of service or educational project they have been working on from the fall 2011 semester or spring 2012 semester. I am currently a student in Public Health Marketing and the Honors Program, both which take part in Service Learning. For both of these courses, I wanted to attend the Day of Scholarship and discuss the work with the Jersey Shore Children’s Museum for my Service Learning Project. I made a tri-fold poster that talked about the museum, the fundraiser event we would be having on April 21st, and my experience working on this project.

This Service Project I am completing has become so much more than just a requirement for my class. I am involved in marketing work for the Jersey Shore Children’s Museum. It is a non-profit organization that is in need of much assistance and I am happy to say that I am a part of the helping process. I am also being assisted in this project by another Stockton student, Stephanie Mak, and two very important role models in the marketing field, Sherri Brentari and Karen Komo. Our main work has consisted of putting together an event to bring more attention to the museum and involve Stockton even more in the community. This opportunity has changed me in so many ways. I now feel confident in myself to take on larger responsibilities and become more involved in marketing and Stockton activities.

Blog Post Nine – Building Battles

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On Tuesday March 27th, I woke up looking forward to a whole day of no classes and attending Building Battles! The reason we had no classes was because it was Preceptor Day for the upper class-men so I was excited to spend the day “battling the other buildings.” I have had the pleasure to part take in this event as a result of staying on campus in the dorms for my freshman year. The entire day was filled with great music, food, and activities for each building. The day was set up so that each building would be challenging the others in all different types of competitions.

These competitions were super fun, but some difficult for my building of all girls, such as the Tug-a-War battle. There was a Stockton Trivia Quiz, in which I learned some new, fun facts about the school, such as the tunnel connecting the bottom of F-Wing to the Campus Center. My floor even won the blueberry pie eating contest, and like I said we were all girls! My favorite battles were the two giant blow-up activities. The most fun blow-up was the two huge connected slides that you had to race your opponent on, and I am happy to say I won on that one! We took a break to enjoy delicious hamburgers, hot dogs, and veggie burgers that had been provided for us. The rest of the day consisted of a flag battles, pyramid-people building, and much more. I wish I could stay in the dorms next year to do this event again!

Blog Post Eight – Keeping in Shape at Stockton

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The day I decided to go to the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey I could not have been more excited and thrilled. However, no matter where I was going I dreaded gaining the Freshman Fifteen because I would be dorming, as well as getting a meal plan. At first, I was nervous about the choices I would make because of the Dunkin’ Donuts, Chick-Flit-A, Johnny Rockets, and Primo’s Pizza. However, after adjusting to my first semester here, I realized that it was possible for me to still maintain my weight, while enjoying my college experience.

By working for the Athletic Department, I became aware of the different services available to members of Stockton Community. I was introduced to the fitness coordinator, nutritionist and to the programs I can take in part in throughout the semesters here. My favorite fitness programs are Yoga and Boxercise! They are so much fun, yet I am still able to get a good workout. As a result of visiting the fitness coordinator, I had a fitness assessment completed to find out what areas I should work on while visiting the gym upstairs in the Sports Center. After visiting the nutritionist, I figured out that I can still work with my meal plan to maintain a healthy diet, while still enjoying the other treats, such as a delicious cookies-n-cream milk shake from Johnny Rockets, every once in a while.

Blog Post Seven – Steve Green and The Elevators

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In the beginning of the spring semester, I had the pleasure to enjoy a great night of music on Monday, January 30th. The songs were performed by a group I had previously not heard of called Steve Green and The Elevators. The main artist of the group was the talented Steve Green, who was accompanied by a few other brilliant musicians to form one interesting night of entertainment. I had such a great time listening to them that night because their music incorporated all different types of styles. These styles included jazz, rock, hip-hop, gospel, and much more that surprisingly when all came together were actually quite good!

I felt so inclined to see them that night for the reason that I wanted to broaden my taste in music. The other reason was that I used to play the electric guitar before I came to college. I was hoping that from watching others play an instrument I used to take so much pride in, would spark my interest to play again, which it did. However, although the event did spark my interest to pick up my guitar again, I was more inspired to play the music I initially loved, instead of the new music I was exposed to that night. In the end though, the crowd and I still really enjoyed the songs that were played for us and I encourage others to visit their website http://www.myspace.com/stevgreenandtheelevators and take pleasure in their music.

Blog Post Six – Stockton’s 11th Annual SIBS Event

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On Saturday March 31st, 2012, the 11th Annual SIBS event at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey took place. The event was from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Sports Center and was really great. As a freshman, this is the first SIBS event I attended and it was so much fun I can not wait for the event next year. My parents and family were not able to come down to the event, so I invited my boyfriend to spend the day with me attending the different activities the school was offering that day, such as the Environmental Forum earlier that morning and the movie night later on in the evening.

Although the event was more aimed towards younger children, for example the featured blow-up attractions, my boyfriend and I were still able to enjoy the event. The first thing we did was take our picture in the booth set up in the middle of the gym. After that, we grabbed a plate of food and watched the K-9 unit and police officer presentations. My boyfriend is a police officer so the presentations were really entertaining to the both of us. Even though we were not able to stay for the rest of the event, we acknowledged some of the groups that made the day possible included the Hero Campaign, Neighborhood Watch, SAFER, Atlantic County SWAT, Atlantic City Bomb Squad, NJ State Police CSI, South Jersey Fire Departments, and south Jersey EMS Units.

Blog Post Five – Service Learning Project (Spring 2012)

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Although I participated in Service Learning for the Honors Program in the fall of 2011, my Service Learning project for this semester has felt like a whole new experience. For the spring semester I have completed my Service Learning for two courses, the Honors Program and Public Health Marketing. Since this is my second time completing a Service Learning Project, I feel as if I truly understand the purpose of the program now. This time around has been different because I have completed more hours and am more involved in the cause I am promoting.

At first I tried to find a site that appealed to my major, Public Health Pre-Physical Therapy, and my minor, Holistic Health. However, I wanted to try something a bit different and decided to complete marketing work for the Jersey Shore Children’s Museum, located in the Shore Mall. The site I choose was different, yet still appealed to my love of working with and for children. Through the Service Learning office, I was put into touch with the company that does marketing for the museum, Ugly Baby Marketing. I was introduced to two wonderful women in charge of the business, Sherri Brentari and Karen Komo, as well as another Stockton student, Stephanie Mak. We all began collaborating ideas to bring more attention to the museum.

We really want everyone to know of the joys the Jersey Shore Museum offers. It is such a great, fun place for children to get a hands-on learning experience through the use of fun, themed exhibits. It is our responsibility to spread the word about such a unique place right in our own neighborhood. I have been having so much fun completing this project that I have decided to minor in Marketing and possibly pursue a part time job opportunity in this field. Hopefully, I will participate in Service Learning the next semester here at Stockton and continue to help other non-profit organizations in the area, or help the Jersey Shore Children’s Museum even more.

Getting Involved

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Coming into Stockton as a freshman, one of the things I was most looking forward to was joining different the different clubs here at Stockton and getting involved in on-campus activities. The Get Involved Fair was definitely a great way to get that ball rolling. It occurred on September 19th from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on September 20th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This timing for it was perfect, since it made it easy to stop by between or after classes depending on each individual’s schedule. Tables for more clubs than one could easily count were set up all throughout the wing. There were all sorts of different clubs, from Water Watch to Theater Club to Literature Club and even E.D.I.B.L., a club that focuses on finding a different sustainable food source i.e. eating bugs. Any one person could definitely find at the very least one club that interested them.

I personally ended up going both of the days the fair was set up, though for longer on the first day. The entire fair was obviously a huge hit – there were people milling about everywhere, checking out the different clubs at different tables, getting great free stuff from a lot of them, and signing up to get involved in the future. There was plenty of information at each table I stopped at, and I have to admit I stopped at quite a lot – Theater Club, Circle K, Pride Alliance, and Psychology Club to name a few. Each had some free giveaways and a sign-up sheet where you could leave your name and email. They also gave information on when and where they met each week, when their first meeting was, and what kind of events and activities they would be doing throughout the year.

I found the Get Involved Fair to be both exciting and useful. It was great to see all the opportunities available to us as Stockton students, and it was a really fun way to try to get people to come out and get involved. It was very useful in that there was so much information available to those students who did want to get involved in clubs, but before had just not known where, when, or how. Also, it was really wonderful to see how excited and passionate the Stockton students who were tabling for their clubs were. They were extremely welcoming to everyone, and you could tell they really enjoyed being a part of their club, and honestly wanted others to have the same great experience they did.